REVIEW OF FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM BASED ON MODELING AND SIMULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SAREN Sanjib Kumar

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This paper focused on the literature survey of the use of flexible manufacturing system design and operation problems on the basis of simulation tools and their methodology which has been widely used for manufacturing system design and analysis. During this period, simulation has been proving to be an extremely useful analysis and optimization tool, and many articles, papers, and conferences have focused directly on the topic. This paper presents a scenario the use of simulation tools and their methodology in flexible manufacturing system from a period 1982 to 2015.

SUPPLIER SELECTION STRATEGY AND MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY: IMPACT OF QUALITY AND TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhamad Jantan

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The study evaluates the relationship between technology, quality, cost and delivery performance-based, supplier selection strategies, and manufacturing flexibilities namely, product flexibility, launch flexibility, and volume flexibility. Moreover, the moderating impact of supplier management strategies, namely quality roadmap and technology roadmap on the above relationships were also explored. The data for the study was drawn from a sample of companies listed in the factory directory published by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC. A postal survey of 120 manufacturers provided a return of 92 usable responses. The results reveal that the selection of suppliers based on technological and quality performance positively affects all the three dimensions of manufacturing flexibility, with complementary effects of good technology and quality roadmaps. Technology and quality roadmaps act as predictors for product and volume flexibilities. However, when launch flexibility is the focus, both technology and quality roadmaps moderate the impact of supplier selection strategies. Details of the findings, theoretical and practical implications, and the research limitation are discussed.

Building Flexible Manufacturing Systems Based on Peer-Its

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hechinger

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Peer-to-peer computing principles have started to pervade into mechanical control systems, inducing a paradigm shift from centralized to autonomic control. We have developed a self-contained, miniaturized, universal and scalable peer-to-peer based hardware-software system, the peer-it platform, to serve as a stick-on computer solution to raise real-world artefacts like, for example, machines, tools, or appliances towards technology-rich, autonomous, self-induced, and context-aware peers, operating as spontaneously interacting ensembles. The peer-it platform integrates sensor, actuator, and wireless communication facilities on the hardware level, with an object-oriented, component-based coordination framework at the software level, thus providing a generic platform for sensing, computing, controlling, and communication on a large scale. The physical appearance of a peer-it supports pinning it to real-world artefacts, while at the same time integrating those artefacts into a mobile ad hoc network of peers. Peer-it networks thus represent ensembles of coordinated artefacts, exhibiting features of autonomy like self-management at the node level and self-organization at the network level. We demonstrate how the peer-it system implements the desired flexibility in automated manufacturing systems to react in the case of changes, whether intended or unexpectedly occuring. The peer-it system enables machine flexibility in that it adapts production facilities to produce new types of products, or change the order of operation executed on parts instantaneously. Secondly, it enables routing flexibility, that is, the ability to use multiple machines to spontaneously perform the same operation on one part alternatively (to implement autonomic fault tolerance or to absorb large-scale changes in volume, capacity, or capability (to implement autonomic scalability.

Online scheduling of 2-re-entrant flexible manufacturing systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pinxten, J. van; Waqas, U.; Geilen, M.; Basten, T.; Somers, L.

2017-01-01

Online scheduling of operations is essential to optimize productivity of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) where manufacturing requests arrive on the fly. An FMS processes products according to a particular flow through processing stations. This work focusses on online scheduling of re-entrant

Distributed Manufacturing of Flexible Products: Technical Feasibility and Economic Viability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aubrey L. Woern

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Distributed manufacturing even at the household level is now well established with the combined use of open source designs and self-replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap 3-D printers. Previous work has shown substantial economic consumer benefits for producing their own polymer products. Now flexible filaments are available at roughly 3-times the cost of more conventional 3-D printing materials. To provide some insight into the potential for flexible filament to be both technically feasible and economically viable for distributed digital manufacturing at the consumer level this study investigates 20 common flexible household products. The 3-D printed products were quantified by print time, electrical energy use and filament consumption by mass to determine the cost to fabricate with a commercial RepRap 3-D printer. Printed parts were inspected and when necessary tested for their targeted application to ensure technical feasibility. Then, the experimentally measured cost to DIY manufacturers was compared to low and high market prices for comparable commercially available products. In addition, the mark-up and potential for long-term price declines was estimated for flexible filaments by converting thermoplastic elastomer (TPE pellets into filament and reground TPE from a local recycling center into filament using an open source recyclebot. This study found that commercial flexible filament is economically as well as technically feasible for providing a means of distributed home-scale manufacturing of flexible products. The results found a 75% savings when compared to the least expensive commercially equivalent products and 92% when compared to high market priced products. Roughly, 160 flexible objects must be substituted to recover the capital costs to print flexible materials. However, as previous work has shown the Lulzbot Mini 3-D printer used in this study would provide more than a 100% ROI printing one object a week from hard thermoplastics

Flexibility configurations and preventive maintenance impact on job-shop manufacturing systems

OpenAIRE

Paolo Renna

2017-01-01

Manufacturing systems need to be able to work under the dynamic and uncertain production environment. Machine and routing flexibility combined with preventive maintenance actions can improve the performance of the manufacturing systems under dynamic conditions. This paper evaluates different levels of machine and routing flexibility combined with different degrees of preventive maintenance policy. The performance measures considered are throughput, work in process and throughput. The performa...

Building Flexible Manufacturing Systems Based on Peer-Its

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

dos Santos Rocha M

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Peer-to-peer computing principles have started to pervade into mechanical control systems, inducing a paradigm shift from centralized to autonomic control. We have developed a self-contained, miniaturized, universal and scalable peer-to-peer based hardware-software system, the peer-it platform, to serve as a stick-on computer solution to raise real-world artefacts like, for example, machines, tools, or appliances towards technology-rich, autonomous, self-induced, and context-aware peers, operating as spontaneously interacting ensembles. The peer-it platform integrates sensor, actuator, and wireless communication facilities on the hardware level, with an object-oriented, component-based coordination framework at the software level, thus providing a generic platform for sensing, computing, controlling, and communication on a large scale. The physical appearance of a peer-it supports pinning it to real-world artefacts, while at the same time integrating those artefacts into a mobile ad hoc network of peers. Peer-it networks thus represent ensembles of coordinated artefacts, exhibiting features of autonomy like self-management at the node level and self-organization at the network level. We demonstrate how the peer-it system implements the desired flexibility in automated manufacturing systems to react in the case of changes, whether intended or unexpectedly occuring. The peer-it system enables machine flexibility in that it adapts production facilities to produce new types of products, or change the order of operation executed on parts instantaneously. Secondly, it enables routing flexibility, that is, the ability to use multiple machines to spontaneously perform the same operation on one part alternatively (to implement autonomic fault tolerance or to absorb large-scale changes in volume, capacity, or capability (to implement autonomic scalability.

Flexibility configurations and preventive maintenance impact on job-shop manufacturing systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Renna

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Manufacturing systems need to be able to work under the dynamic and uncertain production environment. Machine and routing flexibility combined with preventive maintenance actions can improve the performance of the manufacturing systems under dynamic conditions. This paper evaluates different levels of machine and routing flexibility combined with different degrees of preventive maintenance policy. The performance measures considered are throughput, work in process and throughput. The performance measures are compared with a system without any flexibility and no preventive maintenance actions. Different levels of flexibility and preventive maintenance actions are examined under a simulation environment. The simulation results highlight more important factors for the performance measures and the best combination of the factors to improve the performance.

Flexible riser integrity management: areas of concern and applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podskarbi, Mateusz [Schlumberger Servicos de Petroleo Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

Flexible risers are key enables for both deep water and shallow water offshore production developments. Number of flexible risers installed worldwide is into several thousands with two main concentration areas - offshore Brazil and North Sea. Flexible risers are subject to significant loads including environmental impacts, vessel motions, internal temperature and pressure as well as substantial installation loads. Excessive loads of one type or a combination of various types of loads can cause damage to the flexible that can lead to a catastrophic failure. Industry observed number of failures increasing in recent years. Operators and manufacturing companies are taking various steps to address this issue. One of possible approaches is to use monitoring instrumentation to measure riser response and integrity in real time. This paper reviews various types of flexible riser damage mechanisms caused by impact damage, corrosion, excessive pressure, armor wire rupture, compromising flexible riser minimum bend radius, excessive fatigue loading, etc. Failure mechanisms are reviewed with particular focus on the consequences that it causes in terms of risk to the infrastructure and detectable changes. Further part of the paper is focused on monitoring techniques employed and available to detect particular types of failure mechanisms. Systematic review of the monitoring techniques is provided with specific attention given to ability of these techniques to provide early warnings of riser failure. Evaluation of monitoring techniques versus modes of operation and failure mechanism is key to selecting appropriate system that ensures effectiveness of the integrity management program. (author)

Quality Evaluation in Flexible Manufacturing Systems: A Markovian Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingshan Li

2007-01-01

to illustrate the applicability of the method. The results of this study suggest a possible approach to investigate the impact of flexibility on product quality and, finally, with extensions and enrichment of the model, may lead to provide production engineers and managers a better understanding of the quality implications and to summarize some general guidelines of operation management in flexible manufacturing systems.

Impact of Flexibility of Manufacturing System Components on Competitiveness of SMEs in Northern India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shakun Preet Kaur

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present manufacturing environment is characterized by a number of changes which poses challenges to a typical manufacturing unit. Time demands a shift from the traditional manufacturing strategies as they do not fit to present market competition. A flexible systems strategy has to be designed for remaining competitive in the market and perform well. For designing strategies and policies it is important to know the factors that influence performance of the system. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of the flexibility of manufacturing system components on competitiveness of SMEs in northern India. A questionnaire based survey was conducted in the SMEs across northern India analysing three sectors namely automotive, machine tool and light engineering (mechanical components and equipment. The study contributes to the existing literature by empirically investigating the impact of machine, material handling and worker flexibility on competitiveness of manufacturing firms. This paper presents a Structural Equation Model displaying the impact of flexibility of manufacturing system components on competitiveness of SMEs.

Controlling flow time delays in flexible manufacturing cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slomp, J.; Caprihan, R.; Bokhorst, J. A. C.

2009-01-01

Flow time delays in Flexible Manufacturing Cells (FMCs) are caused by transport and clamping/reclamping activities. This paper shows how dynamic scheduling parameters may control the flow times of jobs and the available task windows for flow time delays.

ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING DAN SIMULATED ANNEALING UNTUK PENCARIAN RUTE PADA FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

OpenAIRE

Gregorius Satia Budhi

2003-01-01

Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is a manufacturing system that is formed from several Numerical Controlled Machines combine with material handling system, so that different jobs can be worked by different machines sequences. FMS combine the high productivity and flexibility of Transfer Line and Job Shop manufacturing system. In this reasearch, Activity-Based Costing(ABC) approach was used as the weight to search the operation route in the proper machine, so that the total production cost ...

Robust localisation of automated guided vehicles for computer-integrated manufacturing environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dixon, R. C.

2013-05-01

Full Text Available As industry moves toward an era of complete automation and mass customisation, automated guided vehicles (AGVs are used as material handling systems. However, the current techniques that provide navigation, control, and manoeuvrability of automated guided vehicles threaten to create bottlenecks and inefficiencies in manufacturing environments that strive towards the optimisation of part production. This paper proposes a decentralised localisation technique for an automated guided vehicle without any non-holonomic constraints. Incorporation of these vehicles into the material handling system of a computer-integrated manufacturing environment would increase the characteristics of robustness, efficiency, flexibility, and advanced manoeuvrability.

Advanced optical manufacturing digital integrated system

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Yizheng; Li, Xinglan; Li, Wei; Tang, Dingyong

2012-10-01

It is necessarily to adapt development of advanced optical manufacturing technology with modern science technology development. To solved these problems which low of ration, ratio of finished product, repetition, consistent in big size and high precision in advanced optical component manufacturing. Applied business driven and method of Rational Unified Process, this paper has researched advanced optical manufacturing process flow, requirement of Advanced Optical Manufacturing integrated System, and put forward architecture and key technology of it. Designed Optical component core and Manufacturing process driven of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Digital Integrated System. the result displayed effective well, realized dynamic planning Manufacturing process, information integration improved ratio of production manufactory.

Transistor and integrated circuit manufacture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Colman, D

1978-09-27

This invention relates to the manufacture of transistors and integrated circuits by ion bombardment techniques and is particularly, but not exclusively, of value in the manufacture of so-called integrated injection logic circuitry.

Transistor and integrated circuit manufacture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colman, D.

1978-01-01

This invention relates to the manufacture of transistors and integrated circuits by ion bombardment techniques and is particularly, but not exclusively, of value in the manufacture of so-called integrated injection logic circuitry. (author)

Manufacturing of highly integrated mechatronic modules by using the technology of embedding stereolithography

Science.gov (United States)

Rechtenwald, Thomas; Frick, Thomas; Schmidt, Michael

The embedding stereolithography is an additive, hybrid process, which allows the construction of highly integrated 3D assemblies for the use in automotive applications. The flexible process of stereolithography is combined with the embedding of functional components and supplemented by the additive manufacturing of electrical or optical conductive structures. This combination of sub-processes implies a high potential regarding the obtainable integration density of mechatronical modules. This work considers basic restrictions, which limit the mechanical stability of the manufactured modules by calculating the superposition of residual and external stress using a thermo-mechanical finite element model and develops a procedure to qualify stereolithography matrix materials for the process of the embedding stereolithography.

Manufacturing and testing flexible microfluidic devices with optical and electrical detection mechanisms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ivan, M.G.; Vivet, F.; Meinders, E.R.

2010-01-01

Flexible microfluidic devices made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) were manufactured by soft lithography, and tested in detection of ionic species using optical absorption spectroscopy and electrical measurements. PDMS was chosen due to its flexibility and ease of surface modification by exposure

Semiconductors integrated circuit design for manufacturability

CERN Document Server

Balasinki, Artur

2011-01-01

Because of the continuous evolution of integrated circuit manufacturing (ICM) and design for manufacturability (DfM), most books on the subject are obsolete before they even go to press. That's why the field requires a reference that takes the focus off of numbers and concentrates more on larger economic concepts than on technical details. Semiconductors: Integrated Circuit Design for Manufacturability covers the gradual evolution of integrated circuit design (ICD) as a basis to propose strategies for improving return-on-investment (ROI) for ICD in manufacturing. Where most books put the spotl

Flexible manufacturing system handbook. Volume 1: Executive summary

Science.gov (United States)

1983-02-01

Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs) represent a relatively new strategy to increase productivity. The technology is especially attractive for manufacturers who produce in the middle ranges of production volumes, neither mass production nor one of a kind. Today's unpredictable market environment demands low-cost solutions that provide quick product start-up, adaptability and responsiveness to changes in demand, and the capacity to easily resurrect out-of-production designs. In many instances, FMSs provide a direct hardware/software solution to this threefold management challenge. The adoption of FMS technology requires that one address many questions beforehand. This handbook provides a methodical approach to answering these questions. But it is not a cookbook; it cannot be. Each application of FMS technology is unique, therefore, the guidelines presented are fairly general.

Manufacturing: the new case for vertical integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kumpe, Ted; Bolwijn, Piet

1988-01-01

The article argues that the solid corporation will continue to view vertical integration as a critical part of manufacturing reform. Manufacturing reform and backward integration are related in insidious ways to the three stages of production over which the big manufacturers preside. Without

Self-organization principles result in robust control of flexible manufacturing systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nature shows us in our daily life how robust, flexible and optimal self-organized modular constructions work in complex physical, chemical and biological systems, which successfully adapt to new and unexpected situations. A promising strategy is therefore to use such self-organization and pattern...... problems with several autonomous robots and several targets are considered as model of flexible manufacturing systems. Each manufacturing target has to be served in a given time interval by one and only one robot and the total working costs have to be minimized (or total winnings maximized). A specifically...... constructed dynamical system approach (coupled selection equations) is used which is based on pattern formation principles and results in fault resistant and robust behaviour. An important feature is that this type of control also guarantees feasiblitiy of the assignment solutions. In previous work...

ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING DAN SIMULATED ANNEALING UNTUK PENCARIAN RUTE PADA FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregorius Satia Budhi

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS is a manufacturing system that is formed from several Numerical Controlled Machines combine with material handling system, so that different jobs can be worked by different machines sequences. FMS combine the high productivity and flexibility of Transfer Line and Job Shop manufacturing system. In this reasearch, Activity-Based Costing(ABC approach was used as the weight to search the operation route in the proper machine, so that the total production cost can be optimized. The search method that was used in this experiment is Simulated Annealling, a variant form Hill Climbing Search method. An ideal operation time to proses a part was used as the annealling schedule. From the empirical test, it could be proved that the use of ABC approach and Simulated Annealing to search the route (routing process can optimize the Total Production Cost. In the other hand, the use of ideal operation time to process a part as annealing schedule can control the processing time well. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS adalah sistem manufaktur yang tersusun dari mesin-mesin Numerical Control (NC yang dikombinasi dengan Sistem Penanganan Material, sehingga job-job berbeda dikerjakan oleh mesin-mesin dengan alur yang berlainan. FMS menggabungkan produktifitas dan fleksibilitas yang tinggi dari Sistem Manufaktur Transfer Line dan Job Shop. Pada riset ini pendekatan Activity-Based Costing (ABC digunakan sebagai bobot / weight dalam pencarian rute operasi pada mesin yang tepat, untuk lebih mengoptimasi biaya produksi secara keseluruhan. Adapun metode Searching yang digunakan adalah Simulated Annealing yang merupakan varian dari metode searching Hill Climbing. Waktu operasi ideal untuk memproses sebuah part digunakan sebagai Annealing Schedulenya. Dari hasil pengujian empiris dapat dibuktikan bahwa penggunaan pendekatan ABC dan Simulated Annealing untuk proses pencarian rute (routing dapat lebih

Manufacturing and testing flexible microfluidic devices with optical and electrical detection mechanisms

OpenAIRE

Ivan, M.G.; Vivet, F.; Meinders, E.R.

2010-01-01

Flexible microfluidic devices made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) were manufactured by soft lithography, and tested in detection of ionic species using optical absorption spectroscopy and electrical measurements. PDMS was chosen due to its flexibility and ease of surface modification by exposure to plasma and UV treatment, its transparency in UV-Vis regions of the light spectrum, and biocompatibility. The dual-detection mechanism allows the user more freedom in choosing the detection tool, ...

Robot-based additive manufacturing for flexible die-modelling in incremental sheet forming

Science.gov (United States)

Rieger, Michael; Störkle, Denis Daniel; Thyssen, Lars; Kuhlenkötter, Bernd

2017-10-01

The paper describes the application concept of additive manufactured dies to support the robot-based incremental sheet metal forming process (`Roboforming') for the production of sheet metal components in small batch sizes. Compared to the dieless kinematic-based generation of a shape by means of two cooperating industrial robots, the supporting robot models a die on the back of the metal sheet by using the robot-based fused layer manufacturing process (FLM). This tool chain is software-defined and preserves the high geometrical form flexibility of Roboforming while flexibly generating support structures adapted to the final part's geometry. Test series serve to confirm the feasibility of the concept by investigating the process challenges of the adhesion to the sheet surface and the general stability as well as the influence on the geometric accuracy compared to the well-known forming strategies.

Flexible continuous manufacturing platforms for solid dispersion formulations

Science.gov (United States)

Karry-Rivera, Krizia Marie

In 2013 16,000 people died in the US due to overdose from prescription drugs and synthetic narcotics. As of that same year, 90% of new molecular entities in the pharmaceutical drug pipeline are classified as poor water-soluble. The work in this dissertation aims to design, develop and validate platforms that solubilize weak acids and can potentially deter drug abuse. These platforms are based on processing solid dispersions via solvent-casting and hot-melt extrusion methods to produce oral transmucosal films and melt tablets. To develop these platforms, nanocrystalline suspensions and glassy solutions were solvent-casted in the form of films after physicochemical characterizations of drug-excipient interactions and design of experiment approaches. A second order model was fitted to the emulsion diffusion process to predict average nanoparticle size and for process optimization. To further validate the manufacturing flexibility of the formulations, glassy solutions were also extruded and molded into tablets. This process included a systematic quality-by-design (QbD) approach that served to identify the factors affecting the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the melt tablets. These products, due to their novelty, lack discriminatory performance tests that serve as predictors to their compliance and stability. Consequently, Process Analytical Technology (PAT) tools were integrated into the continuous manufacturing platform for films. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, including chemical imaging, combined with deconvolution algorithms were utilized for a holistic assessment of the effect of formulation and process variables on the product's CQAs. Biorelevant dissolution protocols were then established to improve the in-vivo in-vitro correlation of the oral transmucosal films. In conclusion, the work in this dissertation supports the delivery of poor-water soluble drugs in products that may deter abuse. Drug nanocrystals ensured high bioavailability, while glassy

Virtual Manufacturing Techniques Designed and Applied to Manufacturing Activities in the Manufacturing Integration and Technology Branch

Science.gov (United States)

Shearrow, Charles A.

1999-01-01

One of the identified goals of EM3 is to implement virtual manufacturing by the time the year 2000 has ended. To realize this goal of a true virtual manufacturing enterprise the initial development of a machinability database and the infrastructure must be completed. This will consist of the containment of the existing EM-NET problems and developing machine, tooling, and common materials databases. To integrate the virtual manufacturing enterprise with normal day to day operations the development of a parallel virtual manufacturing machinability database, virtual manufacturing database, virtual manufacturing paradigm, implementation/integration procedure, and testable verification models must be constructed. Common and virtual machinability databases will include the four distinct areas of machine tools, available tooling, common machine tool loads, and a materials database. The machine tools database will include the machine envelope, special machine attachments, tooling capacity, location within NASA-JSC or with a contractor, and availability/scheduling. The tooling database will include available standard tooling, custom in-house tooling, tool properties, and availability. The common materials database will include materials thickness ranges, strengths, types, and their availability. The virtual manufacturing databases will consist of virtual machines and virtual tooling directly related to the common and machinability databases. The items to be completed are the design and construction of the machinability databases, virtual manufacturing paradigm for NASA-JSC, implementation timeline, VNC model of one bridge mill and troubleshoot existing software and hardware problems with EN4NET. The final step of this virtual manufacturing project will be to integrate other production sites into the databases bringing JSC's EM3 into a position of becoming a clearing house for NASA's digital manufacturing needs creating a true virtual manufacturing enterprise.

Low NOx Fuel Flexible Combustor Integration Project Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, Joanne C.; Chang, Clarence T.; Lee, Chi-Ming; Kramer, Stephen

2015-01-01

The Integrated Technology Demonstration (ITD) 40A Low NOx Fuel Flexible Combustor Integration development is being conducted as part of the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project. Phase 2 of this effort began in 2012 and will end in 2015. This document describes the ERA goals, how the fuel flexible combustor integration development fulfills the ERA combustor goals, and outlines the work to be conducted during project execution.

Business integration between manufacturing and transport-logistics firms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Ole; Lemoine, Olga W.

electronically through EDI. The current business integration practices are primarily restricted to some sub-processes in three key SC processes: Customer service management, order fulfillment and backwards logistics. In the future the manufacturers want a better integration with the TLSPs, but at the same time......Purpose - This paper analyses how manufacturers and transport-logistics service providers (TLSPs) work together and integrate their business processes. The information technologies used to support the integration, the processes currently integrated, and the expected future integration, are searched......, manufacturers would like to have the freedom of breaking the relationship, if the party does not fulfill the requisites and expectations. The future developments associated to the "commoditization" of TLSPs' services would reinforce this trend. Originality/value - This research has shed light on a relatively...

Modular integration of electronics and microfluidic systems using flexible printed circuit boards.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Amy; Wang, Lisen; Jensen, Erik; Mathies, Richard; Boser, Bernhard

2010-02-21

Microfluidic systems offer an attractive alternative to conventional wet chemical methods with benefits including reduced sample and reagent volumes, shorter reaction times, high-throughput, automation, and low cost. However, most present microfluidic systems rely on external means to analyze reaction products. This substantially adds to the size, complexity, and cost of the overall system. Electronic detection based on sub-millimetre size integrated circuits (ICs) has been demonstrated for a wide range of targets including nucleic and amino acids, but deployment of this technology to date has been limited due to the lack of a flexible process to integrate these chips within microfluidic devices. This paper presents a modular and inexpensive process to integrate ICs with microfluidic systems based on standard printed circuit board (PCB) technology to assemble the independently designed microfluidic and electronic components. The integrated system can accommodate multiple chips of different sizes bonded to glass or PDMS microfluidic systems. Since IC chips and flex PCB manufacturing and assembly are industry standards with low cost, the integrated system is economical for both laboratory and point-of-care settings.

Thin Film Photovoltaic Cells on Flexible Substrates Integrated with Energy Storage

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-30

on a variety of flexible substrates. One of the more promising substrates is a 75 micron thick flexible glass manufactured by Corning . Corning has...gel sulfurization methods[14], sol-gel spin-coated deposition[15] and spray pyrolysis [ 16,17][16-18]. In addition, there is synthesis based on

A model for the design of computer integrated manufacturing systems: Identification of information requirements of decision makers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jens

1990-01-01

A predominant interest in recent design research has been the development of a general model of the design process to formulate a framework within which support systems based on modern information technology can be developed. Similarly, for manufacturing systems, advanced information systems...... and compatibility of data bases. It is, however, a question whether traditional models of work process or task procedures are suited for design of advanced information systems such as integrated manufacturing systems. Modern technology and the rapid succession of designs, materials and processes require flexible...... are developed to support production planning and control processes as they are found in the present organizations. In this case, the result has been the evolution of "islands of automation" and in the CIM literature, integration is widely discussed in terms of standardization of communication protocols...

Analysis on flexible manufacturing system layout using arena simulation software

Science.gov (United States)

Fadzly, M. K.; Saad, Mohd Sazli; Shayfull, Z.

2017-09-01

Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) was defined as highly automated group technology machine cell, consisting of a group of processing stations interconnected by an automated material handling and storage system, and controlled by an integrated computer system. FMS can produce parts or products are in the mid-volume, mid-variety production range. The layout system in FMS is an important criterion to design the FMS system to produce a part or product. This facility layout of an FMS involves the positioning of cells within given boundaries, so as to minimize the total projected travel time between cells. Defining the layout includes specifying the spatial coordinates of each cell, its orientation in either a horizontal or vertical position, and the location of its load or unloads point. There are many types of FMS layout such as In-line, loop ladder and robot centered cell layout. The research is concentrating on the design and optimization FMS layout. The final conclusion can be summarized that the objective to design and optimisation of FMS layout for this study is successful because the FMS In-line layout is the best layout based on effective time and cost using ARENA simulation software.

Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (IPAS) Flexible Systems Integration

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Integrated Power, Avionics, and Software (IPAS) facility is a flexible, multi-mission hardware and software design environment. This project will develop a...

Integrated Glass Coating Manufacturing Line

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brophy, Brenor [Enki Technology Inc., San Jose, CA (United States)

2015-09-30

This project aims to enable US module manufacturers to coat glass with Enki’s state of the art tunable functionalized AR coatings at the lowest possible cost and highest possible performance by encapsulating Enki’s coating process in an integrated tool that facilitates effective process improvement through metrology and data analysis for greater quality and performance while reducing footprint, operating and capital costs. The Phase 1 objective was a fully designed manufacturing line, including fully specified equipment ready for issue of purchase requisitions; a detailed economic justification based on market prices at the end of Phase 1 and projected manufacturing costs and a detailed deployment plan for the equipment.

Integrated and Intelligent Manufacturing: Perspectives and Enablers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yubao Chen

2017-10-01

Full Text Available With ever-increasing market competition and advances in technology, more and more countries are prioritizing advanced manufacturing technology as their top priority for economic growth. Germany announced the Industry 4.0 strategy in 2013. The US government launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP in 2011 and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI in 2014. Most recently, the Manufacturing USA initiative was officially rolled out to further “leverage existing resources... to nurture manufacturing innovation and accelerate commercialization” by fostering close collaboration between industry, academia, and government partners. In 2015, the Chinese government officially published a 10-year plan and roadmap toward manufacturing: Made in China 2025. In all these national initiatives, the core technology development and implementation is in the area of advanced manufacturing systems. A new manufacturing paradigm is emerging, which can be characterized by two unique features: integrated manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing. This trend is in line with the progress of industrial revolutions, in which higher efficiency in production systems is being continuously pursued. To this end, 10 major technologies can be identified for the new manufacturing paradigm. This paper describes the rationales and needs for integrated and intelligent manufacturing (i2M systems. Related technologies from different fields are also described. In particular, key technological enablers, such as the Internet of Things and Services (IoTS, cyber-physical systems (CPSs, and cloud computing are discussed. Challenges are addressed with applications that are based on commercially available platforms such as General Electric (GE’s Predix and PTC’s ThingWorx.

Flexible manufacturing systems and their relevance in nuclear fuel fabrication in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramakumar, M.S.

1989-01-01

Fabrication of nuclear reactor fuel bundle involves several materials and a number of complicated technologies and the process of manufacture has to conform to stringent standards. The Indian Nuclear Programme relies heavily on indigeneous capability of manufacture of nuclear fuels as well as automation of the related facilities. Automation of the existing nuclear facilities is a challenge in view of the characteristic plant environments and process demands as well as the various mechanical and metallurgical steps involved. This paper discusses their requirements and the measures initiated for achieving a high order of automation in Indian nuclear facilities. As a first step, specific automation steps are being incorporated in the existing plants. Such interface automation will enhance productivity and avoid the need for building new totally automated palnts. Flexible manufacturing system as applied here, has a different connotation vis-a-vis conventional manufacturing industry. Robotic devices, even for stacking jobs, have not been used on a large scale the world over. (author). 6 figs

Integration of Manufacturing and Development in Emerging Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søberg, Peder Veng; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum

2011-01-01

The paper investigates the problems related to functional integration between manufacturing activities and R&D activities in emerging markets within multinational companies. A framework to this end is developed and illustrated in relation to four cases from multinational companies, which have...... established R&D and manufacturing in China or India. The findings point to the importance of contingencies such as industrial clock speed, technological complexity, as well as the extent to which local adaptation is needed. Keywords: Co-location, Emerging markets, Functional integration, Manufacturing, R&D....

Integrating developing country manufacturing industries into global supply chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fasika Bete Georgise

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Due to globalization of manufacturing activities, the arena of competition and competitiveness advantage is moving from firms towards supply chains and networks. With the recent advancement of information and communication technologies this participation are becoming as common business practice in developed countries firms. Companies were more integrated into the world market for the global nature of the sourcing, manufacturing and distribution. These changes create both challenges and opportunities for the manufacturing industries in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to examine the level of inter-organizational and intra-organizational supply chain integration practices in developing country, Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approach: An industrial questionnaires survey was used to collect the current practices of the manufacturing industries in Ethiopia as an example of the developing countries. Descriptive statistics is primarily used for the analysis.Findings: Results show a low level of supply chain relationship both in intra and inter organizational supply chain integration level among members. Accordingly, such issues require much attention to facilitate a greater integration within the supply chains in the Ethiopian manufacturing industries.Research limitations/implications: The paper focuses on examining the practices of Ethiopian manufacturing industries empirical data. The interpretation of results should be taken with prudence.Originality/Value: The manufacturing industry in developing countries (MIDC has been a part of the global supply chains for long time as a supplier of raw material and manufacturer of primary products. Currently, the MIDC is trying to access the different markets segment of the world even with new products starting from their local market to the complex and dynamic international market. Nevertheless, their supply chains are inefficient and hence, their competitiveness level far from the

Manufacturing experience and test results of the PS prototype flexible hybrid circuit for the CMS Tracker Upgrade

CERN Document Server

Kovacs, Mark Istvan; Gadek, Tomasz; Honma, Alan; Vasey, Francois

2017-01-01

The CMS Tracker Phase-2 Upgrade for HL-LHC requires High Density Interconnect (HDI) flexible hybrid circuits to build modules with low mass and high granularity. The hybrids are carbon fibre reinforced flexible circuits with flip-chips and passives. Three different manufacturers produced prototype hybrids for the Pixel-Strip type modules. The first part of the presentation will focus on the design challenges of this state of the art circuit. Afterwards, the difficulties and experience related to the circuit manufacturing and assembly are presented. The description of quality inspection methods with comprehensive test results will lead to the conclusion.

Design and simulation of CONWIP in the complex flexible job shop of a Make-To-Order manufacturing firm ,

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Romagnoli

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodology for the design and integration of CONWIP in a make-to-order firm. The approach proposed was applied directly to the flexible job shop of a real manufacturing firm in order to assess the validity of the methodology. After the description of the whole plant layout, attention was focused on a section of the shop floor (21 workstations. The CONWIP system deals with multiple-product families and is characterized by path-type cards and a pull-from-the-bottleneck scheme. The cards release strategy and a customized dispatching rule were created to meet the firm’s specific needs. After the simulation model of the present state was built and validated, the future state to be implemented was created and simulated (i.e. the CONWIP system. The comparison between the two systems achieved excellent results, and showed that CONWIP is a very interesting tool for planning and controlling a complex flexible job shop.

Manufacturing and testing flexible microfluidic devices with optical and electrical detection mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Ivan, Marius G.; Vivet, Frédéric; Meinders, Erwin R.

2010-06-01

Flexible microfluidic devices made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) were manufactured by soft lithography, and tested in detection of ionic species using optical absorption spectroscopy and electrical measurements. PDMS was chosen due to its flexibility and ease of surface modification by exposure to plasma and UV treatment, its transparency in UV-Vis regions of the light spectrum, and biocompatibility. The dual-detection mechanism allows the user more freedom in choosing the detection tool, and a functional device was successfully tested. Optical lithography was employed for manufacturing templates, which were subsequently used for imprinting liquid PDMS by thermal curing. Gold electrodes having various widths and distances among them were patterned with optical lithography on the top part which sealed the microchannels, and the devices were employed for detection of ionic species in aqueous salt solutions as well as micro-electrolysis cells. Due to the transparency of PDMS in UV-Vis the microfluidics were also used as photoreactors, and the in-situ formed charged species were monitored by applying a voltage between electrodes. Upon addition of a colorimetric pH sensor, acid was detected with absorption spectroscopy.

Integrated Manufacturing Strategy: A Prerequisite for Environmental Excellence

OpenAIRE

W. Rocky Newman; Mark D. Hanna; William E.Youngdahl

1994-01-01

This paper is based upon a framework which links the effective integration of manufacturing strategy into overall corporate strategy (Wheelwright and Hayes 1985) and corporate attainment of environmental excellence (Winsemius and Guntram 1992). By exploring the practical implications of this framework, the paper suggests that improvement of environmental performance may depend on adequate integration of manufacturing strategy into overall corporate strategy. Hence, situations may commonly exi...

High Performance Electronics on Flexible Silicon

KAUST Repository

Sevilla, Galo T.

2016-09-01

Over the last few years, flexible electronic systems have gained increased attention from researchers around the world because of their potential to create new applications such as flexible displays, flexible energy harvesters, artificial skin, and health monitoring systems that cannot be integrated with conventional wafer based complementary metal oxide semiconductor processes. Most of the current efforts to create flexible high performance devices are based on the use of organic semiconductors. However, inherent material\\'s limitations make them unsuitable for big data processing and high speed communications. The objective of my doctoral dissertation is to develop integration processes that allow the transformation of rigid high performance electronics into flexible ones while maintaining their performance and cost. In this work, two different techniques to transform inorganic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics into flexible ones have been developed using industry compatible processes. Furthermore, these techniques were used to realize flexible discrete devices and circuits which include metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors, the first demonstration of flexible Fin-field-effect-transistors, and metal-oxide-semiconductors-based circuits. Finally, this thesis presents a new technique to package, integrate, and interconnect flexible high performance electronics using low cost additive manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing and inkjet printing. This thesis contains in depth studies on electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the fabricated devices.

Integrated Production-Distribution Scheduling Problem with Multiple Independent Manufacturers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhong Hao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the nonstandard parts supply chain with a public service platform for machinery integration in China. The platform assigns orders placed by a machinery enterprise to multiple independent manufacturers who produce nonstandard parts and makes production schedule and batch delivery schedule for each manufacturer in a coordinate manner. Each manufacturer has only one plant with parallel machines and is located at a location far away from other manufacturers. Orders are first processed at the plants and then directly shipped from the plants to the enterprise in order to be finished before a given deadline. We study the above integrated production-distribution scheduling problem with multiple manufacturers to maximize a weight sum of the profit of each manufacturer under the constraints that all orders are finished before the deadline and the profit of each manufacturer is not negative. According to the optimal condition analysis, we formulate the problem as a mixed integer programming model and use CPLEX to solve it.

Designing Integrated Product- Service System Solutions in Manufacturing Industries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Costa, Nina; Patrício, Lia; Morelli, Nicola

2015-01-01

Manufacturing firms are increasingly evolving towards the design of integrated product-service solutions but servitization literature does not provide specific guidance on how to design these integrated solutions. Building upon ProductService System (PSS) and Service Design (SD) approaches...... how it brings new insights to manufacturing companies moving to a service, value cocreation perspective....

Manufacturing Process for OLED Integrated Substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hung, Cheng-Hung [Vitro Flat Glass LLC, Cheswick, PA (United States). Glass Technology Center

2017-03-31

The main objective of this project was to develop a low-cost integrated substrate for rigid OLED solid-state lighting produced at a manufacturing scale. The integrated substrates could include combinations of soda lime glass substrate, light extraction layer, and an anode layer (i.e., Transparent Conductive Oxide, TCO). Over the 3⁺ year course of the project, the scope of work was revised to focus on the development of a glass substrates with an internal light extraction (IEL) layer. A manufacturing-scale float glass on-line particle embedding process capable of producing an IEL glass substrate having a thickness of less than 1.7mm and an area larger than 500mm x 400mm was demonstrated. Substrates measuring 470mm x 370mm were used in the OLED manufacturing process for fabricating OLED lighting panels in single pixel devices as large as 120.5mm x 120.5mm. The measured light extraction efficiency (calculated as external quantum efficiency, EQE) for on-line produced IEL samples (>50%) met the project’s initial goal.

Development of Probabilistic Structural Analysis Integrated with Manufacturing Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Pai, Shantaram S.; Nagpal, Vinod K.

2007-01-01

An effort has been initiated to integrate manufacturing process simulations with probabilistic structural analyses in order to capture the important impacts of manufacturing uncertainties on component stress levels and life. Two physics-based manufacturing process models (one for powdered metal forging and the other for annular deformation resistance welding) have been linked to the NESSUS structural analysis code. This paper describes the methodology developed to perform this integration including several examples. Although this effort is still underway, particularly for full integration of a probabilistic analysis, the progress to date has been encouraging and a software interface that implements the methodology has been developed. The purpose of this paper is to report this preliminary development.

6th Workshop on Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing

CERN Document Server

Trentesaux, Damien; Thomas, André; Leitão, Paulo; Oliveira, José

2017-01-01

The book offers an integrated vision on Cloud and HPC, Big Data, Analytics and virtualization in computing-oriented manufacturing, combining information and communication technologies, service-oriented control of holonic architectures as well as enterprise integration solutions based on SOA principles. It is structured in eight parts, each one grouping research and trends in digital manufacturing and service oriented manufacturing control: Cloud and Cyber-Physical Systems for Smart Manufacturing, Reconfigurable and Self-organized Multi-Agent Systems for Industry and Service, Sustainability Issues in Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, Holonic and Multi-agent System Design for Industry and Service, Should Intelligent Manufacturing Systems be Dependable and Safe?, Service-oriented Management and Control of Manufacturing Systems, Engineering and Human Integration in Flexible and Reconfigurable Industrial Systems,Virtualization and Simulation in Computing-oriented Industry and Service.

Gigahertz flexible graphene transistors for microwave integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Chao-Hui; Lain, Yi-Wei; Chiu, Yu-Chiao; Liao, Chen-Hung; Moyano, David Ricardo; Hsu, Shawn S H; Chiu, Po-Wen

2014-08-26

Flexible integrated circuits with complex functionalities are the missing link for the active development of wearable electronic devices. Here, we report a scalable approach to fabricate self-aligned graphene microwave transistors for the implementation of flexible low-noise amplifiers and frequency mixers, two fundamental building blocks of a wireless communication receiver. A devised AlOx T-gate structure is used to achieve an appreciable increase of device transconductance and a commensurate reduction of the associated parasitic resistance, thus yielding a remarkable extrinsic cutoff frequency of 32 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 20 GHz; in both cases the operation frequency is an order of magnitude higher than previously reported. The two frequencies work at 22 and 13 GHz even when subjected to a strain of 2.5%. The gigahertz microwave integrated circuits demonstrated here pave the way for applications which require high flexibility and radio frequency operations.

An exploration of the integrative function of dialogue in manufacturing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eijnatten, van F.M.; Putnik, G.D.

2010-01-01

This paper is about the roles of dialogue as a generative mechanism in manufacturing system integration. It advocates the integrative power of dialogue in the design and operation of manufacturing systems. Dialogical conversation is a powerful tool to create a learning organisation: it might be a

Activity-based Costing dan Simulated Annealing untuk Pencarian Rute pada Flexible Manufacturing Systems

OpenAIRE

Budhi, Gregorius Satia

2003-01-01

In Bahasa Indonesia : Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) adalah sistem manufaktur yang tersusun dari mesin-mesin Numerical Control (NC) yang dikombinasi dengan Sistem Penanganan Material, sehingga job-job berbeda dikerjakan oleh mesin-mesin dengan alur yang berlainan. FMS menggabungkan produktifitas dan fleksibilitas yang tinggi dari Sistem Manufaktur Transfer Line dan Job Shop. Pada riset ini pendekatan Activity-Based Costing (ABC) digunakan sebagai bobot / weight dalam pencarian ru...

Integration and test plans for complex manufacturing systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boumen, R.

2007-01-01

The integration and test phases that are part of the development and manufacturing of complex manufacturing systems are costly and time consuming. As time-to-market is becoming increasingly important, it is crucial to keep these phases as short as possible, whilemaintaining system quality. This is

Eradication of Productivity Related Problems Through Lean Principles In Integrated Manufacturing Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahul

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this competitive era, manufacturing enterprises struggle to adopt cost-effective manufacturing systems. Overview of the recent manufacturing enterprises shows that successful global manufacturing enterprises have distributed their manufacturing capabilities over the globe. The successes of distributed integrated manufacturing enterprises depend upon the adaptation of appropriate manufacturing technologies like computer integrated manufacturing (CIM under the global collaborative environment along with the principles of lean manufacturing so that their corporate goals are achieved. CIM is an umbrella term which involves automated design, analysis, planning manufacturing, dispatching, customer-interaction, purchasing, cost accounting, inventory control and factory floor functions, which are inter-linked through the computer, to control all the campus-wide manufacturing related operations. It helps to improve the performance of a firm by integrating various areas of manufacturing business in which most of lean ideas are embedded. These lean ideas cause work in a process to be performed with minimum of non-value adding activities and focus on customers’ needs by delivering them at minimum time, with high quality and at minimum cost by eliminating hidden waste. What happens at the shop floor of even an integrated industry is that proper and timely attention is not paid to the intangible lean principles in the manual part of the CIM system which results in substantial loss of the plant productivity. Therefore the objective of this research paper is to investigate the different poor productivity-related problems in a partially integrated manufacturing environment and lay down the remedial measures to eradicate them using ‘Juran’s problem solving techniques’ and various ‘lean tools’ which results in the reduced wastages and hence improved productivity.

The research for flexible product family manufacturing based on real options

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maozhu Jin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The goal of this paper is to find the best production strategy for product mix, which means the largest value of the options. And finally, give a case and find the solution of the optimal production strategy for product mix. Design/methodology/approach: This article, based on the production with characteristics of a call option and 0-1 integer programming model, build new-products mix strategy, and through case demonstrate that traditional method underestimates the value of the products mix. Finding: According to market being volatility and uncertainty and the production can being delayed, firms can flexibly arrange the best time for products to manufacture. Use real options theory to analyze product decision and the best production timing decision. Find the total options value is higher than the traditional methods. Research limitations/implications: We are not applied to real option pricing theory in modular flexible production system. We just applied real option pricing theory to the product platform. The basic model needs to improve. While the thinking of this paper provides some research ideas for flexible production systems based on real option in further research. Practical Implications: The introduction of the real option make the company can achieve dynamic planning and flexible management for production of products mix and get the better benefit. Originality/value: The central contribution of this paper is to introduce the option mechanism in the production timing for the product mix.

Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT): Composites Integrated Modeling

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Composites Integrated Modeling (CIM) Element developed low cost, lightweight, and efficient composite structures, materials and manufacturing technologies with...

Flexible heat pipes with integrated bioinspired design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Yang

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this work we report the facile fabrication and performance evaluation of flexible heat pipes that have integrated bioinspired wick structures and flexible polyurethane polymer connector design between the copper condenser and evaporator. Inside the heat pipe, a bioinspired superhydrophilic strong-base-oxidized copper mesh with multi-scale micro/nano-structures was used as the wicking material and deionized water was selected as working fluid. Thermal resistances of the fabricated flexible heat pipes charged with different filling ratios were measured under thermal power inputs ranging from 2 W to 12 W while the device was bent at different angles. The fabricated heat pipes with a 30% filling ratio demonstrated a low thermal resistance less than 0.01 K/W. Compared with the vertically oriented straight heat pipes, bending from 30° up to 120° has negligible influence on the heat-transfer performance. Furthermore, repeated heating tests indicated that the fabricated flexible heat pipes have consistent and reliable heat-transfer performance, thus would have important applications for advanced thermal management in three dimensional and flexible electronic devices.

Using CORBA to integrate manufacturing cells to a virtual enterprise

Science.gov (United States)

Pancerella, Carmen M.; Whiteside, Robert A.

1997-01-01

It is critical in today's enterprises that manufacturing facilities are not isolated from design, planning, and other business activities and that information flows easily and bidirectionally between these activities. It is also important and cost-effective that COTS software, databases, and corporate legacy codes are well integrated in the information architecture. Further, much of the information generated during manufacturing must be dynamically accessible to engineering and business operations both in a restricted corporate intranet and on the internet. The software integration strategy in the Sandia Agile Manufacturing Testbed supports these enterprise requirements. We are developing a CORBA-based distributed object software system for manufacturing. Each physical machining device is a CORBA object and exports a common IDL interface to allow for rapid and dynamic insertion, deletion, and upgrading within the manufacturing cell. Cell management CORBA components access manufacturing devices without knowledge of any device-specific implementation. To support information flow from design to planning data is accessible to machinists on the shop floor. CORBA allows manufacturing components to be easily accessible to the enterprise. Dynamic clients can be created using web browsers and portable Java GUI's. A CORBA-OLE adapter allows integration to PC desktop applications. Other commercial software can access CORBA network objects in the information architecture through vendor API's.

Technology for 3D System Integration for Flexible Wireless Biomedical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Cheng Kuo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new 3D bottom-up packing technology for integrating a chip, an induction coil, and interconnections for flexible wireless biomedical applications. Parylene was used as a flexible substrate for the bottom-up embedding of the chip, insulation layer, interconnection, and inductors to form a flexible wireless biomedical microsystem. The system can be implanted on or inside the human body. A 50-μm gold foil deposited through laser micromachining by using a picosecond laser was used as an inductor to yield a higher quality factor than that yielded by thickness-increasing methods such as the fold-and-bond method or thick-metal electroplating method at the operation frequency of 1 MHz. For system integration, parylene was used as a flexible substrate, and the contact pads and connections between the coil and chip were generated using gold deposition. The advantage of the proposed process can integrate the chip and coil vertically to generate a single biocompatible system in order to reduce required area. The proposed system entails the use of 3D integrated circuit packaging concepts to integrate the chip and coil. The results validated the feasibility of this technology.

Integrated computer aided design simulation and manufacture

OpenAIRE

Diko, Faek

1989-01-01

Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) have been investigated and developed since twenty years as standalone systems. A large number of very powerful but independent packages have been developed for Computer Aided Design,Aanlysis and Manufacture. However, in most cases these packages have poor facility for communicating with other packages. Recently attempts have been made to develop integrated CAD/CAM systems and many software companies a...

Business process integration between European manufacturers and transport and logistics service providers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Ole; Lemoine, W

2005-01-01

The goal of the Supply Chain Management process is to create value for customers, stakeholders and all supply chain members, through the integration of disparate processes like manufacturing flow management, customer service and order fulfillment. However, many firms fail in the path of achieving...... a total integration. This study illustrates, from an empirical point of view, the problems associated to SC integration among European firms operating in global/international markets. The focus is on the relationship between two echelons in the supply chain: manufacturers and their transport and logistics...... service providers (TLSPs). The paper examines (1) the characteristics of the collaborative partnerships established between manufacturers and their TLSPs; (2) to what extent manufacturers and their TLSPs have integrated SC business processes; (3) the IT used to support the SC cooperation and integration...

United States Department of Energy Integrated Manufacturing & Processing Predoctoral Fellowships. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petrochenkov, M.

2003-03-31

The objective of the program was threefold: to create a pool of PhDs trained in the integrated approach to manufacturing and processing, to promote academic interest in the field, and to attract talented professionals to this challenging area of engineering. It was anticipated that the program would result in the creation of new manufacturing methods that would contribute to improved energy efficiency, to better utilization of scarce resources, and to less degradation of the environment. Emphasis in the competition was on integrated systems of manufacturing and the integration of product design with manufacturing processes. Research addressed such related areas as aspects of unit operations, tooling and equipment, intelligent sensors, and manufacturing systems as they related to product design.

Computer integrated manufacturing in the chemical industry : Theory & practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ashayeri, J.; Teelen, A.; Selen, W.J.

1995-01-01

This paper addresses the possibilities of implementing Computer Integrated Manufacturing in the process industry, and the chemical industry in particular. After presenting some distinct differences of the process industry in relation to discrete manufacturing, a number of focal points are discussed.

Una experiencia docente en el empleo de los simuladores gráficos en el desarrollo de prácticas de laboratorios de Sistemas Integrados de Manufactura. // An educational experience with graphical simulators in course of Computer Integrated Manufacturing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. González Rey

2004-05-01

Full Text Available En el trabajo se presentan algunos ejemplos de simuladores gráficos con empleo en el desarrollo de las practicas de laboratoriode Sistemas Integrados de Manufactura, a partir de experiencia de los autores en una Celda de Manufactura con integración demáquinas de control numérico, robots manipuladores y ensambladores, líneas flexibles de transportación, sistemas deinspección y un software de simulador de procesos.Palabras claves: Sistema Integrado de Manufactura, SIM, CIM, simuladores gráficos, AMNET, MasterCAM,inspección por visión.______________________________________________________________________________Abstract .In the work some examples of graphical simulators are presented as important tools in the development of an educationalactivity in a Cell of Manufacturing during a course of Computer Integrated Manufacturing. In this experience, was developedan integration of CNC machines, robots, conveyor flexible lines, inspection systems and software for direction of allprocesses.Key words: Computer Integrated Manufacturing, CIM, CAD, graphical simulators, AMNET, MasterCAM, visualinspection.

Integrated Plastic Substrates for OLED Lighting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaynor, Whitney

2015-08-01

OLED lighting has immense potential as aesthetically pleasing, energy-efficient general illumination. Unlike other light sources, such as incandescents, fluorescents, and inorganic LEDs, OLEDs naturally emit over a large-area surface. They are glare free, do not need to be shaded, and are cool to the touch, requiring no heatsink. The best efficiencies and lifetimes reported are on par with or better than current forms of illumination. However, the cost for OLED lighting remains high – so much so that these products are not market competitive and there is very low consumer demand. We believe that flexible, plastic-based devices will highlight the advantages of aesthetically-pleasing OLED lighting systems while paving the way for lowering both materials and manufacturing costs. These flexible devices require new development in substrate and support technology, which was the focus of the work reported here. The project team, led by Sinovia Technologies, has developed integrated plastic substrates to serve as supports for flexible OLED lighting. The substrates created in this project would enable large-area, flexible devices and are specified to perform three functions. They include a barrier to protect the OLED from moisture and oxygen-related degradation, a smooth, highly conductive transparent electrode to enable large-area device operation, and a light scattering layer to improve emission efficiency. Through the course of this project, integrated substrates were fabricated, characterized, evaluated for manufacturing feasibility and cost, and used in white OLED demonstrations to test their impact on flexible OLED lighting. Our integrated substrates meet or exceed the DOE specifications for barrier performance in water vapor and oxygen transport rates, as well as the transparency and conductivity of the anode film. We find that these integrated substrates can be manufactured in a completely roll-to-roll, high throughput process and have developed and demonstrated

Integration of design and manufacturing in a virtual enterprise using enterprise rules, intelligent agents, STEP, and work flow

Science.gov (United States)

Gilman, Charles R.; Aparicio, Manuel; Barry, J.; Durniak, Timothy; Lam, Herman; Ramnath, Rajiv

1997-12-01

An enterprise's ability to deliver new products quickly and efficiently to market is critical for competitive success. While manufactureres recognize the need for speed and flexibility to compete in this market place, companies do not have the time or capital to move to new automation technologies. The National Industrial Information Infrastructure Protocols Consortium's Solutions for MES Adaptable Replicable Technology (NIIIP SMART) subgroup is developing an information infrastructure to enable the integration and interoperation among Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Enterprise Information Systems within an enterprise or among enterprises. The goal of these developments is an adaptable, affordable, reconfigurable, integratable manufacturing system. Key innovative aspects of NIIIP SMART are: (1) Design of an industry standard object model that represents the diverse aspects of MES. (2) Design of a distributed object network to support real-time information sharing. (3) Product data exchange based on STEP and EXPRESS (ISO 10303). (4) Application of workflow and knowledge management technologies to enact manufacturing and business procedures and policy. (5) Application of intelligent agents to support emergent factories. This paper illustrates how these technologies have been incorporated into the NIIIP SMART system architecture to enable the integration and interoperation of existing tools and future MES applications in a 'plug and play' environment.

Flexible procurement systems is key to supply chain sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Surajit Bag

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: In this dynamic business environment, manufacturers are focusing primarily on delivery performance and competitive pricing to win orders. It is essential that manufacturers adopt flexible procurement systems (FPSs in such an uncertain environment for business sustainability. Objectives: The purpose of the study is to identify the elements of FPSs and model the interrelationships between elements of FPSs and, finally, to understand how FPSs are linked with supply chain sustainability. Method: Besides providing a brief conceptual review of FPSs, the study largely illustrates the use of an innovative multi-criteria decision-making approach called total interpretive structural modelling (TISM. Results: The total interpretive structural modelling–based model evaluates the causality and illustrates elements with interpretation of relations and suggests that bottom-level elements are vital for sustainability in FPSs and avert risks. Secondly, strategic sourcing is positively influencing supplier integration. Thirdly, supplier integration positively influences supplier responsiveness. Fourthly, skills of flexible procurement workforce positively influence supplier integration. Fifthly, it is found that supplier integration positively influences flexible transportation. The sixth finding suggests that supplier integration positively influences eco-friendly packaging. The seventh finding highlights that supplier integration positively influences ISO 14001 certifications. The eighth finding explains that supplier responsiveness positively influences customer satisfaction. It is also observed that flexible transport reduces operational cost and environmental costs. The second last finding explains eco-friendly packaging and reduction in environmental cost by careful selection of packing material and chemicals. Lastly, it is found that ISO 14001/environmental certifications reduce environmental costs by greening suppliers and pressurises them

U.S. Department of Energy integrated manufacturing & processing predoctoral fellowships. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petrochenkov, Margaret

2003-03-31

The objective of this program was threefold: to create a pool of PhDs trained in the integrated approach to manufacturing and processing, to promote academic interest in the field, and to attract talented professionals to this challenging area of engineering. It was anticipated that the program would result in the creation of new manufacturing methods that would contribute to improved energy efficiency, to better utilization of scarce resources, and to less degradation of the environment. Emphasis in the competition was on integrated systems of manufacturing and the integration of product design with manufacturing processes. Research addressed such related areas as aspects of unit operations, tooling and equipment, intelligent sensors, and manufacturing systems as they related to product design. This is the final report to close out the contract.

Middle and small manufacture enterprise e-commerce application systems research

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Mingqiang

2017-04-01

With the extensive application of electronic commerce in manufacturing enterprises, e-commerce the influence of operation is increasingly becoming the focus of academic and business circles on the basis, this paper probes into the influence of e-commerce on the operation of the enterprise for the manufacturing enterprises to correctly understand the performance of e-commerce to provide a little help. The article first analyses e-commerce new environment on medium manufacturing enterprise requires, current medium manufacturing enterprise achieved e-commerce has many difficult, should e-commerce correctly awareness, and full planning, and points step implementation, and e-commerce and enterprise integration, and construction features of e-commerce platform, and procurement and supply chain of collaborative management, and attention customer management, and variety e-commerce of mode mixed, and flexible effective operations, and logistics socialization, views, focus on small and medium manufacturing enterprises in e-commerce applications to be innovative in design, production and management of agile and flexible production strategies.

Monolithically Integrated Flexible Black Phosphorus Complementary Inverter Circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yuanda; Ang, Kah-Wee

2017-07-25

Two-dimensional (2D) inverters are a fundamental building block for flexible logic circuits which have previously been realized by heterogeneously wiring transistors with two discrete channel materials. Here, we demonstrate a monolithically integrated complementary inverter made using a homogeneous black phosphorus (BP) nanosheet on flexible substrates. The digital logic inverter circuit is demonstrated via effective threshold voltage tuning within a single BP material, which offers both electron and hole dominated conducting channels with nearly symmetric pinch-off and current saturation. Controllable electron concentration is achieved by accurately modulating the aluminum (Al) donor doping, which realizes BP n-FET with a room-temperature on/off ratio >10 3 . Simultaneously, work function engineering is employed to obtain a low Schottky barrier contact electrode that facilities hole injection, thus enhancing the current density of the BP p-FET by 9.4 times. The flexible inverter circuit shows a clear digital logic voltage inversion operation along with a larger-than-unity direct current voltage gain, while exhibits alternating current dynamic signal switching at a record high frequency up to 100 kHz and remarkable electrical stability upon mechanical bending with a radii as small as 4 mm. Our study demonstrates a practical monolithic integration strategy for achieving functional logic circuits on one material platform, paving the way for future high-density flexible electronic applications.

Characterizing performances of solder paste printing process at flexible manufacturing lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siew, Jit Ping; Low, Heng Chin; Teoh, Ping Chow

2015-01-01

Solder paste printing (SPP) has been a challenge on printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, evident by the proliferation of solder paste inspection equipment, or substituted by rigorous non-value added activity of manual inspections. The objective of this study is to characterize the SPP performance of various products manufactured in flexible production lines with different equipment configurations, and determine areas for process improvement. The study began by collecting information on SPP performance relative to component placement (CP) process, and to the proportion of mixed products. Using a clustering algorithm to group similar elements together, SPP performance across all product-production line pairs are statistically modeled to discover the trend and the influential factors. The main findings are: (a) Ratio of overall dpku for CP and SPP processes are 2:1; (b) logistic regression models of SPP performance indicated that only effects of product-production line and solder paste printer configuration are significant; (c) PCB circuitry design with BGA components and single solder paste printer line configurations generated the highest monthly defects, with the highest variation in the latter

Characterizing performances of solder paste printing process at flexible manufacturing lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siew, Jit Ping; Low, Heng Chin [University of Science Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang (Malaysia); Teoh, Ping Chow [Wawasan Open University, 54 Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, 10050 Penang (Malaysia)

2015-02-03

Solder paste printing (SPP) has been a challenge on printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, evident by the proliferation of solder paste inspection equipment, or substituted by rigorous non-value added activity of manual inspections. The objective of this study is to characterize the SPP performance of various products manufactured in flexible production lines with different equipment configurations, and determine areas for process improvement. The study began by collecting information on SPP performance relative to component placement (CP) process, and to the proportion of mixed products. Using a clustering algorithm to group similar elements together, SPP performance across all product-production line pairs are statistically modeled to discover the trend and the influential factors. The main findings are: (a) Ratio of overall dpku for CP and SPP processes are 2:1; (b) logistic regression models of SPP performance indicated that only effects of product-production line and solder paste printer configuration are significant; (c) PCB circuitry design with BGA components and single solder paste printer line configurations generated the highest monthly defects, with the highest variation in the latter.

Integration of Manufacturing and Development in Emerging Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søberg, Peder Veng; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum

2014-01-01

The chapter investigates the problems related to the functional integration between manufacturing activities and research and development (R&D) activities in emerging markets within multinational companies. A framework to this end is developed and illustrated through four case studies from...... as an integral part of corporate relocation decisions....

Economic Analysis of Additive Manufacturing Integration in Injection Molding Process Chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Charalambis, Alessandro; Kerbache, Laoucine; Tosello, Guido

The purpose of this research is to analyze how additive manufacturing can create value when it is utilized as a supportive technology to injection molding by quantifying the cost advantages that can be obtained. Tooling for the product development phase is investigated as pilot integration area...... of additive manufacturing with injection molding. Cost considerations are discussed through the development of a cost estimation model. The study shows that integration of additive manufacturing in the product development phase for fabrication of soft tooling is economically convenient with a cost reduction...... of 79,8% and 89,9%. The cost models on additive manufacturing have been built so far on the idea of substituting injection molding with additive manufacturing. In response to this literature gap, this research addresses the advantages of additive manufacturing utilized in a synergistic rather than...

Flexible, High-Speed CdSe Nanocrystal Integrated Circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Stinner, F Scott; Lai, Yuming; Straus, Daniel B; Diroll, Benjamin T; Kim, David K; Murray, Christopher B; Kagan, Cherie R

2015-10-14

We report large-area, flexible, high-speed analog and digital colloidal CdSe nanocrystal integrated circuits operating at low voltages. Using photolithography and a newly developed process to fabricate vertical interconnect access holes, we scale down device dimensions, reducing parasitic capacitances and increasing the frequency of circuit operation, and scale up device fabrication over 4 in. flexible substrates. We demonstrate amplifiers with ∼7 kHz bandwidth, ring oscillators with <10 μs stage delays, and NAND and NOR logic gates.

Performance measurement integrated information framework in e-Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Teran, Hilaida; Hernandez, Juan Carlos; Vizán, Antonio; Ríos, José

2014-11-01

The implementation of Internet technologies has led to e-Manufacturing technologies becoming more widely used and to the development of tools for compiling, transforming and synchronising manufacturing data through the Web. In this context, a potential area for development is the extension of virtual manufacturing to performance measurement (PM) processes, a critical area for decision making and implementing improvement actions in manufacturing. This paper proposes a PM information framework to integrate decision support systems in e-Manufacturing. Specifically, the proposed framework offers a homogeneous PM information exchange model that can be applied through decision support in e-Manufacturing environment. Its application improves the necessary interoperability in decision-making data processing tasks. It comprises three sub-systems: a data model, a PM information platform and PM-Web services architecture. A practical example of data exchange for measurement processes in the area of equipment maintenance is shown to demonstrate the utility of the model.

Very Thin Flexible Coupled Inductors for PV Module Integrated GaN Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Acanski, Milos; Ouyang, Ziwei; Popovic-Gerber, Jelena

2012-01-01

converter integrated directly into a low cost flexible PV module. Additional problems arise in this case, specifically in magnetics design, due to the requirements for very low profile flexible construction and limited thermal headroom. Overcoming these limitations presents a challenge, but can lead...... to a cost effective, reliable solution for PV systems with improved integration level and power density....

A Layered Software Architecture for the Management of a Manufacturing Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domenico CONSOLI

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe a layered software architecture in the management of a manufactur-ing company that intensively uses computer technology. Application tools, new and legacy, after the updating, operate in a context of an open web oriented architecture. The software architecture enables the integration and interoperability among all tools that support business processes. Manufacturing Executive System and Text Mining tools are excellent interfaces, the former both for internal production and management processes and the latter for external processes coming from the market. In this way, it is possible to implement, a computer integrated factory, flexible and agile, that immediately responds to customer requirements.

The Sustainability Cone - A holistic framework to integrate sustainability thinking into manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rödger, Jan-Markus; Bey, Niki; Alting, Leo

2016-01-01

Integrating sustainability into manufacturing is a multifaceted endeavour. Global sustainability aspects and specific manufacturing success factors have to be combined with life cycle thinking in order to get the holistic view on manufacturing which is needed to make truly sustainability-oriented......Integrating sustainability into manufacturing is a multifaceted endeavour. Global sustainability aspects and specific manufacturing success factors have to be combined with life cycle thinking in order to get the holistic view on manufacturing which is needed to make truly sustainability...... - as the missing link which closes these gaps by providing necessary holistic and consistent overview while being aligned with established stage-gate project execution models, thus ensuring practical applicability as shown for a highly automated production cell. The paper shows how to apply life cycle target...

Coordination and Control of Flexible Building Loads for Renewable Integration; Demonstrations using VOLTTRON

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao, He [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Liu, Guopeng [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Huang, Sen [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Katipamula, Srinivas [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-10-31

Renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power have a high degree of uncertainty. Large-scale integration of these variable generation sources into the grid is a big challenge for power system operators. Buildings, in which we live and work, consume about 75% of the total electricity in the United States. They also have a large capacity of power flexibility due to their massive thermal capacitance. Therefore, they present a great opportunity to help the grid to manage power balance. In this report, we study coordination and control of flexible building loads for renewable integration. We first present the motivation and background, and conduct a literature review on building-to-grid integration. We also compile a catalog of flexible building loads that have great potential for renewable integration, and discuss their characteristics. We next collect solar generation data from a photovoltaic panel on Pacific Northwest National Laboratory campus, and conduct data analysis to study their characteristics. We find that solar generation output has a strong uncertainty, and the uncertainty occurs at almost all time scales. Additional data from other sources are also used to verify our study. We propose two transactive coordination strategies to manage flexible building loads for renewable integration. We prove the theories that support the two transactive coordination strategies and discuss their pros and cons. In this report, we select three types of flexible building loads—air-handling unit, rooftop unit, and a population of WHs—for which we demonstrate control of the flexible load to track a dispatch signal (e.g., renewable generation fluctuation) using experiment, simulation, or hardware-in-the-loop study. More specifically, we present the system description, model identification, controller design, test bed setup, and experiment results for each demonstration. We show that coordination and control of flexible loads has a great potential to integrate

A Novel Manufacturing Process for Compact, Low-Weight and Flexible Ultra-Wideband Cavity Backed Textile Antennas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dries Van Baelen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A novel manufacturing procedure for the fabrication of ultra-wideband cavity-backed substrate integrated waveguide antennas on textile substrates is proposed. The antenna cavity is constructed using a single laser-cut electrotextile patch, which is folded around the substrate. Electrotextile slabs protruding from the laser-cut patch are then vertically folded and glued to form the antenna cavity instead of rigid metal tubelets to implement the vertical cavity walls. This approach drastically improves mechanical flexibility, decreases the antenna weight to slightly more than 1 g and significantly reduces alignment errors. As a proof of concept, a cavity-backed substrate integrated waveguide antenna is designed and realized for ultra-wideband operation in the [5.15–5.85] GHz band. Antenna performance is validated in free space as well as in two on body measurement scenarios. Furthermore, the antenna’s figures of merit are characterized when the prototype is bent at different curvature radii, as commonly encountered during deployment on the human body. Also the effect of humidity content on antenna performance is studied. In all scenarios, the realized antenna covers the entire operating frequency band, meanwhile retaining a stable radiation pattern with a broadside gain above 5 dBi, and a radiation efficiency of at least 70%.

Cost-Effective Manufacturing of Damage-Tolerant Integral Armor

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Fink, Bruce

2000-01-01

...) technology demonstrator and Crusader self-propelled howitzer platforms. Present integral armor manufacturing processes involve adhesive bonding of a composite structure with ballistic armor tiles, spall shield, and nuisance cover...

Design and application of reconfigurable manufacturing systems in agile mass customization manufacturing environment.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Xing, B

2007-05-01

Full Text Available processes. Many manufacturing techniques are based on the principles of Flexible Manufacturing and Dedicated Manufacturing for mass production. Reconfigurable Manufacturing System, (RMS), is a manufacturing system that can provide for Agile Manufacturing...

Assessing the economic feasibility of flexible integrated gasification Co-generation facilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meerman, J.C.; Ramírez Ramírez, C.A.; Turkenburg, W.C.; Faaij, A.P.C.

2011-01-01

This paper evaluated the economic effects of introducing flexibility to state-of-the-art integrated gasification co-generation (IGCG) facilities equipped with CO2 capture. In a previous paper the technical and energetic performances of these flexible IG-CG facilities were evaluated. This paper

Graphene-based integrated electrodes for flexible lithium ion batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Ying; Wen, Lei; Zhou, Guangmin; Chen, Jing; Pei, Songfeng; Huang, Kun; Cheng, Hui-Ming; Li, Feng

2015-01-01

We have prepared flexible free-standing electrodes with anode and cathode active materials deposited on a highly conductive graphene membrane by a two-step filtration method. Compared with conventional electrodes using metal as current collectors, these electrodes have displayed stronger adhesion, superior electrochemical performance, higher energy density, and better flexibility. A full lithium ion battery assembled by adopting these graphene-based electrodes has showed high rate capability and long cyclic life. We have also assembled a thin, lightweight, and flexible lithium ion battery with poly-(dimethyl siloxane) sheets as packaging material to light a red light-emitting diode. This flexible battery can be easily bent without structural failure or performance loss and operated well under a bent state. The fabrication process of these graphene-based integrated electrodes only has two filtration steps; thus it is easy to scale up. These results suggest great potential for these graphene-based flexible batteries in lightweight, bendable, and wearable electronic devices. (paper)

Methods for fabrication of flexible hybrid electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Street, Robert A.; Mei, Ping; Krusor, Brent; Ready, Steve E.; Zhang, Yong; Schwartz, David E.; Pierre, Adrien; Doris, Sean E.; Russo, Beverly; Kor, Siv; Veres, Janos

2017-08-01

Printed and flexible hybrid electronics is an emerging technology with potential applications in smart labels, wearable electronics, soft robotics, and prosthetics. Printed solution-based materials are compatible with plastic film substrates that are flexible, soft, and stretchable, thus enabling conformal integration with non-planar objects. In addition, manufacturing by printing is scalable to large areas and is amenable to low-cost sheet-fed and roll-to-roll processes. FHE includes display and sensory components to interface with users and environments. On the system level, devices also require electronic circuits for power, memory, signal conditioning, and communications. Those electronic components can be integrated onto a flexible substrate by either assembly or printing. PARC has developed systems and processes for realizing both approaches. This talk presents fabrication methods with an emphasis on techniques recently developed for the assembly of off-the-shelf chips. A few examples of systems fabricated with this approach are also described.

Extremely flexible nanoscale ultrathin body silicon integrated circuits on plastic.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahrjerdi, Davood; Bedell, Stephen W

2013-01-09

In recent years, flexible devices based on nanoscale materials and structures have begun to emerge, exploiting semiconductor nanowires, graphene, and carbon nanotubes. This is primarily to circumvent the existing shortcomings of the conventional flexible electronics based on organic and amorphous semiconductors. The aim of this new class of flexible nanoelectronics is to attain high-performance devices with increased packing density. However, highly integrated flexible circuits with nanoscale transistors have not yet been demonstrated. Here, we show nanoscale flexible circuits on 60 Å thick silicon, including functional ring oscillators and memory cells. The 100-stage ring oscillators exhibit the stage delay of ~16 ps at a power supply voltage of 0.9 V, the best reported for any flexible circuits to date. The mechanical flexibility is achieved by employing the controlled spalling technology, enabling the large-area transfer of the ultrathin body silicon devices to a plastic substrate at room temperature. These results provide a simple and cost-effective pathway to enable ultralight flexible nanoelectronics with unprecedented level of system complexity based on mainstream silicon technology.

A novel application of exergy analysis: Lean manufacturing tool to improve energy efficiency and flexibility of hydrocarbon processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haragovics, Máté; Mizsey, Péter

2014-01-01

This work investigates the techniques used in evaluating distillation structures from lean manufacturing point of view. Oil and gas industry has already started adopting lean manufacturing principles in different types of processes from information flow to processing technologies. Generally, energy costs are the most important factors in processing hydrocarbons. Introducing flexibility desired by lean principles to the system may conflict energy efficiency of the system. However, this does not mean that the economic optimum is the energetic optimum. Therefore all possible changes due to temporarily stopped or not fully utilised plants have to be investigated, resulting in a large amount of cases that have to be evaluated. For evaluation exergy analysis can be used as it involves all energy types, and evaluation is straightforward. In this paper plain distillation structures are investigated, and the boundaries of the systems are set up according to the status of the site. Four component case studies are presented that show that the very same distillation structure can be more or less efficient depending on the status of the industrial site. It is also shown that exergy analysis used with different boundaries on the same system can show flexibility of the system and reveals potentials. - Highlights: • The article focuses on the flexibility aspect of lean manufacturing. • Exergy analysis of distillation scheme alternatives, energy efficiency. • Different boundaries define different scenarios of the same system is investigated. • The energy efficiency of distillation schemes also depends on their operating mode. • The exergy reserves of a distillation system can be revealed with exergy analysis

Industrie 4.0: Network Formation on a Distributed Manufacturing Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz Fernando Cardoso dos Santos Durão

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The integration of modern internet technology and manufacturing technology, which has been denominated Industrie 4.0, allows for distributed manufacturing using additive manufacturing on a global scale with the integration of machines and processes. However, distributed manufacturing poses many challenges for standardization, quality control and management of information in different manufacturing sites. This article aims to investigate the formation of networks in distributed manufacturing projects, identifying the stake-holders and types of connections throughout the project. The methodological approach used was longitudinal action research for a distributed manufacturing project with a focus on flexible manufacturing. The central plant was located in Germany and the supplier located in Brazil, with a partnership between the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo and the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. The design and engineering that spawned the product model was developed in Germany, while the additive manufacturing site, the structure, and machinery was developed in Brazil, forming a development and distributed manufacturing network. The results showed how organized the communication and knowledge sharing was among those involved in the distributed manufacturing project, as well as an understanding of what kind of knowledge is shared among those involved.

Integration in design and manufacturing of polymer smart devices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bolt, P.J.; Zwart, R.M. de; Tacken, R.A.; Rendering, H.

2009-01-01

Integration of functions in single components is pursued in order to manufacture smaller and smarter polymer micro devices at less cost, through e.g. less assembly steps. It requires integration on both product and production side. This paper addresses the use of molded interconnect device (MID)

Carbon Nanotube Flexible and Stretchable Electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Le; Wang, Chuan

2015-12-01

The low-cost and large-area manufacturing of flexible and stretchable electronics using printing processes could radically change people's perspectives on electronics and substantially expand the spectrum of potential applications. Examples range from personalized wearable electronics to large-area smart wallpapers and from interactive bio-inspired robots to implantable health/medical apparatus. Owing to its one-dimensional structure and superior electrical property, carbon nanotube is one of the most promising material platforms for flexible and stretchable electronics. Here in this paper, we review the recent progress in this field. Applications of single-wall carbon nanotube networks as channel semiconductor in flexible thin-film transistors and integrated circuits, as stretchable conductors in various sensors, and as channel material in stretchable transistors will be discussed. Lastly, state-of-the-art advancement on printing process, which is ideal for large-scale fabrication of flexible and stretchable electronics, will also be reviewed in detail.

Flexible Electronics: Integration Processes for Organic and Inorganic Semiconductor-Based Thin-Film Transistors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fábio F. Vidor

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Flexible and transparent electronics have been studied intensively during the last few decades. The technique establishes the possibility of fabricating innovative products, from flexible displays to radio-frequency identification tags. Typically, large-area polymeric substrates such as polypropylene (PP or polyethylene terephthalate (PET are used, which produces new requirements for the integration processes. A key element for flexible and transparent electronics is the thin-film transistor (TFT, as it is responsible for the driving current in memory cells, digital circuits or organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs. In this paper, we discuss some fundamental concepts of TFT technology. Additionally, we present a comparison between the use of the semiconducting organic small-molecule pentacene and inorganic nanoparticle semiconductors in order to integrate TFTs suitable for flexible electronics. Moreover, a technique for integration with a submicron resolution suitable for glass and foil substrates is presented.

A commercial real-time manufacturing integration platform for the new control system on FTU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panella, M.; Bertocchi, A.; Bozzolan, V.; Buceti, G.; Centioli, C.; Imparato, A.; Mazza, G.; Torelli, C.; Vitale, V.

1999-01-01

In 1994 a working group was set up in Frascati to investigate how to build up a new control system for FTU (Frascati tokamak upgrade) considering the evolution in the information technology. Strong emphasis was placed on the use of standard solutions (be they de-facto or de-jure) and commercial platforms where-ever possible. This paper describes our operational experience with the new control system based on the commercial DEC BASEstar family of products. BASEstar is based on client/server computing technologies, providing an environment to collect, process, manage, distribute and integrate real time manufacturing data. UNIX, VMS, PC Win, OS-9 are integrated to handle hosts, PC, VME CPUs. A 4 GL programming language, CIMfast, has been used to handle via automatic procedures the tokamak discharge. X11 standard based mimics are available to display the plants status. A real flexibility of the whole system has been experience and the further use of the this system has been planned for the ITER DTP (divertor test platform). (orig.)

Flexible integration of path-planning capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Stobie, Iain C.; Tambe, Milind; Rosenbloom, Paul S.

1993-05-01

Robots pursuing complex goals must plan paths according to several criteria of quality, including shortness, safety, speed and planning time. Many sources and kinds of knowledge, such as maps, procedures and perception, may be available or required. Both the quality criteria and sources of knowledge may vary widely over time, and in general they will interact. One approach to address this problem is to express all criteria and goals numerically in a single weighted graph, and then to search this graph to determine a path. Since this is problematic with symbolic or uncertain data and interacting criteria, we propose that what is needed instead is an integration of many kinds of planning capabilities. We describe a hybrid approach to integration, based on experiments with building simulated mobile robots using Soar, an integrated problem-solving and learning system. For flexibility, we have implemented a combination of internal planning, reactive capabilities and specialized tools. We illustrate how these components can complement each other's limitations and produce plans which integrate geometric and task knowledge.

Investigating the Effect of Normalization Norms in Flexible Manufacturing Sytem Selection Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prasenjit Chatterjee

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to assess the effect of different normalization norms within multi-criteria decisionmaking (MADM models. Three well accepted MCDM tools, namely, preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE, grey relation analysis (GRA and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS methods are applied for solving a flexible manufacturing system (FMS selection problem in a discrete manufacturing environment. Finally, by the introduction of different normalization norms to the decision algorithms, its effct on the FMS selection problem using these MCDM models are also studied.

Method of manufacturing Josephson junction integrated circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jillie, D.W. Jr.; Smith, L.N.

1985-01-01

Josephson junction integrated circuits of the current injection type and magnetically controlled type utilize a superconductive layer that forms both Josephson junction electrode for the Josephson junction devices on the integrated circuit as well as a ground plane for the integrated circuit. Large area Josephson junctions are utilized for effecting contact to lower superconductive layers and islands are formed in superconductive layers to provide isolation between the groudplane function and the Josephson junction electrode function as well as to effect crossovers. A superconductor-barrier-superconductor trilayer patterned by local anodization is also utilized with additional layers formed thereover. Methods of manufacturing the embodiments of the invention are disclosed

Hybrid fabrication process of additive manufacturing and direct writing for a 4 X 4 mm matrix flexible tactile sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woo, Sang Gu; Lee, In Hwan [Chungbuk National University, Chungju (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Kyong Chang [Pukyong National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2015-09-15

Various machines require data from their external environments for safety and/or accuracy. In this respect, many sensors that mimic the human sensory system have been investigated. Among these, tactile sensors may be useful for obtaining data on the roughness of, and external forces acting upon, an object. Several tactile sensors have been developed; however, these are typically fabricated via a series of complex processes, and hence are unsuitable for volume manufacturing. In this paper, we report a fabrication process for a 4 X 4 mm matrix flexible sensor element using layered manufacturing and direct-write technology. A composite composed of photocurable resin and Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was used as the sensing material. The MWCNTs were mixed with the photocurable resin using ultrasonic dispersion, and the liquid mixture exhibited excellent piezoresistive properties following curing using ultraviolet light. The used photocurable resin is flexible and elastic after curing. Therefore, the composite material can be bent and deformed. To use this composite material with the flexible sensor, dispensing characteristics were examined using direct-write technology. For the acquisition of sensor data, a commercial pin-header was inserted and photocurable resin was filled up to the height of pin-header and cured . Then, the composite material was dispensed onto the pin-header as a sensing material. Using this process, a flexible sensor with piezoresistive properties was formed.

Hybrid fabrication process of additive manufacturing and direct writing for a 4 X 4 mm matrix flexible tactile sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, Sang Gu; Lee, In Hwan; Lee, Kyong Chang

2015-01-01

Various machines require data from their external environments for safety and/or accuracy. In this respect, many sensors that mimic the human sensory system have been investigated. Among these, tactile sensors may be useful for obtaining data on the roughness of, and external forces acting upon, an object. Several tactile sensors have been developed; however, these are typically fabricated via a series of complex processes, and hence are unsuitable for volume manufacturing. In this paper, we report a fabrication process for a 4 X 4 mm matrix flexible sensor element using layered manufacturing and direct-write technology. A composite composed of photocurable resin and Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was used as the sensing material. The MWCNTs were mixed with the photocurable resin using ultrasonic dispersion, and the liquid mixture exhibited excellent piezoresistive properties following curing using ultraviolet light. The used photocurable resin is flexible and elastic after curing. Therefore, the composite material can be bent and deformed. To use this composite material with the flexible sensor, dispensing characteristics were examined using direct-write technology. For the acquisition of sensor data, a commercial pin-header was inserted and photocurable resin was filled up to the height of pin-header and cured . Then, the composite material was dispensed onto the pin-header as a sensing material. Using this process, a flexible sensor with piezoresistive properties was formed.

In-situ fabrication of flexible vertically integrated electronic circuits by inkjet printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhuo; Wu Wenwen; Yang Qunbao; Li Yongxiang; Noh, Chang-Ho

2009-01-01

In this paper, a facile approach for fabricating flexible vertically integrated electronic circuits is demonstrated. A desktop inkjet printer was modified and employed to print silver precursor on a polymer-coated buffer substrates. In-situ reaction was taken place and a conducting line was formed without need of a high temperature treatment. Through this process, several layers of metal integrated circuits were deposited sequentially with polymer buffer layers sandwiched between each layer. Hence, vertically integrated electronic components of diodes, solar cells, flexible flat panel displays, and electrochromic devices can be built with this simple and low-cost technique.

Flexible and low-voltage integrated circuits constructed from high-performance nanocrystal transistors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, David K; Lai, Yuming; Diroll, Benjamin T; Murray, Christopher B; Kagan, Cherie R

2012-01-01

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals are emerging as a new class of solution-processable materials for low-cost, flexible, thin-film electronics. Although these colloidal inks have been shown to form single, thin-film field-effect transistors with impressive characteristics, the use of multiple high-performance nanocrystal field-effect transistors in large-area integrated circuits has not been shown. This is needed to understand and demonstrate the applicability of these discrete nanocrystal field-effect transistors for advanced electronic technologies. Here we report solution-deposited nanocrystal integrated circuits, showing nanocrystal integrated circuit inverters, amplifiers and ring oscillators, constructed from high-performance, low-voltage, low-hysteresis CdSe nanocrystal field-effect transistors with electron mobilities of up to 22 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), current modulation >10(6) and subthreshold swing of 0.28 V dec(-1). We fabricated the nanocrystal field-effect transistors and nanocrystal integrated circuits from colloidal inks on flexible plastic substrates and scaled the devices to operate at low voltages. We demonstrate that colloidal nanocrystal field-effect transistors can be used as building blocks to construct complex integrated circuits, promising a viable material for low-cost, flexible, large-area electronics.

Medium-scale carbon nanotube thin-film integrated circuits on flexible plastic substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Qing; Kim, Hoon-sik; Pimparkar, Ninad; Kulkarni, Jaydeep P; Wang, Congjun; Shim, Moonsub; Roy, Kaushik; Alam, Muhammad A; Rogers, John A

2008-07-24

The ability to form integrated circuits on flexible sheets of plastic enables attributes (for example conformal and flexible formats and lightweight and shock resistant construction) in electronic devices that are difficult or impossible to achieve with technologies that use semiconductor wafers or glass plates as substrates. Organic small-molecule and polymer-based materials represent the most widely explored types of semiconductors for such flexible circuitry. Although these materials and those that use films or nanostructures of inorganics have promise for certain applications, existing demonstrations of them in circuits on plastic indicate modest performance characteristics that might restrict the application possibilities. Here we report implementations of a comparatively high-performance carbon-based semiconductor consisting of sub-monolayer, random networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes to yield small- to medium-scale integrated digital circuits, composed of up to nearly 100 transistors on plastic substrates. Transistors in these integrated circuits have excellent properties: mobilities as high as 80 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), subthreshold slopes as low as 140 m V dec(-1), operating voltages less than 5 V together with deterministic control over the threshold voltages, on/off ratios as high as 10(5), switching speeds in the kilohertz range even for coarse (approximately 100-microm) device geometries, and good mechanical flexibility-all with levels of uniformity and reproducibility that enable high-yield fabrication of integrated circuits. Theoretical calculations, in contexts ranging from heterogeneous percolative transport through the networks to compact models for the transistors to circuit level simulations, provide quantitative and predictive understanding of these systems. Taken together, these results suggest that sub-monolayer films of single-walled carbon nanotubes are attractive materials for flexible integrated circuits, with many potential areas of

ANALISIS ACTIVITY BASED COST1NG DAN SIMULATED ANNEALING UNTUK PENCARIAN RUTE PADA FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

OpenAIRE

Rialdy, Novien

2017-01-01

AbstrakFlexible Manufacturing System (FMS) adalah sistem manufaktur yang tersusun dari mesin -mesin Numerical Control (NC) yang dikombinasi dengan Sistem Penanganan Material, sehingga job-job berbeda dikerjakan oleh mesin -mesin dengan alur yang berlainan. FMS menggabungkan produktifitas dan fleksibilitas yang tinggi dari Sistem Manufaktur Transfer Line dan Job Shop. Pada riset ini pendekatan Activity-Based Costing (ABC) digunakan sebagai bobot / weight dalam pencarian rute operasi pada mesin...

Proposition Factor Model of World Class Manufacturing in Brazilian Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Sergio Gonçalves de Oliveira

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper aims to develop a model of World Class Manufacturing, to achieve this goal was elaborated a questionnaire with 35 assertive divided in 7 areas suggested by literature review. This questionnaire was send to manufacture specialists, product developers and technician through LinkedIn the participants was select by researchers in discussion groups taking in consideration their experience using the professional profile. About 1000 invite was send to professional from metal-mechanic sector which returned 180 valid questionnaires. The data was analyzed through factor analyses and was obtained 7 constructs, which explained 67% of data variance. The KMO was 0,84, which is considered good for, analyzes purpose. The seventh factor was eliminated because it Cranach’s Alpha was below 0,6 and the remained factor was nominated as: Lean Manufacturing, Human Resources Management to achieve flexibility, Marketing Integration, Costs Reduction and Flexibility.

Flexible Biomanufacturing Processes that Address the Needs of the Future.

Science.gov (United States)

Diel, Bernhard; Manzke, Christian; Peuker, Thorsten

2014-01-01

: As the age of the blockbuster drug recedes, the business model for the biopharmaceutical industry is evolving at an ever-increasing pace. The personalization of medicine, the emergence of biosimilars and biobetters, and the need to provide vaccines globally are just some of the factors forcing biomanufacturers to rethink how future manufacturing capability is implemented. One thing is clear: the traditional manufacturing strategy of constructing large-scale, purpose-built, capital-intensive facilities will no longer meet the industry's emerging production and economic requirements. Therefore, the authors of this chapter describe the new approach for designing and implementing flexible production processes for monoclonal antibodies and focus on the points to consider as well as the lessons learned from past experience in engineering such systems. A conceptual integrated design is presented that can be used as a blueprint for next-generation biomanufacturing facilities. In addition, this chapter discusses the benefits of the new approach with respect to flexibility, cost, and schedule. The concept presented here can be applied to other biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes and facilities, including-but not limited to-vaccine manufacturing, multiproduct and/or multiprocess capability, clinical manufacturing, and so on.

A flexible architecture for advanced process control solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Faron, Kamyar; Iourovitski, Ilia

2005-05-01

Advanced Process Control (APC) is now mainstream practice in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Over the past decade and a half APC has evolved from a "good idea", and "wouldn"t it be great" concept to mandatory manufacturing practice. APC developments have primarily dealt with two major thrusts, algorithms and infrastructure, and often the line between them has been blurred. The algorithms have evolved from very simple single variable solutions to sophisticated and cutting edge adaptive multivariable (input and output) solutions. Spending patterns in recent times have demanded that the economics of a comprehensive APC infrastructure be completely justified for any and all cost conscious manufacturers. There are studies suggesting integration costs as high as 60% of the total APC solution costs. Such cost prohibitive figures clearly diminish the return on APC investments. This has limited the acceptance and development of pure APC infrastructure solutions for many fabs. Modern APC solution architectures must satisfy the wide array of requirements from very manual R&D environments to very advanced and automated "lights out" manufacturing facilities. A majority of commercially available control solutions and most in house developed solutions lack important attributes of scalability, flexibility, and adaptability and hence require significant resources for integration, deployment, and maintenance. Many APC improvement efforts have been abandoned and delayed due to legacy systems and inadequate architectural design. Recent advancements (Service Oriented Architectures) in the software industry have delivered ideal technologies for delivering scalable, flexible, and reliable solutions that can seamlessly integrate into any fabs" existing system and business practices. In this publication we shall evaluate the various attributes of the architectures required by fabs and illustrate the benefits of a Service Oriented Architecture to satisfy these requirements. Blue

Supply chain integration: A qualitative exploration of perspectives from plastic manufacturers in Gauteng

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yvonne Vermeulen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Supply chain integration was identified as a tool to assist an organisation to survive in a competitive marketplace. It was unclear how plastic manufacturers in Gauteng perceived supply chain integration efforts between themselves and their suppliers. Objectives: This study’s main purpose was to investigate the nature and extent of supply chain integration between 10 plastic manufacturers in Gauteng and their suppliers. The focus was on these manufacturers’ commitment to and perceptions of supplier integration efforts. Method: The study was conducted with plastic manufacturing organisations in Gauteng, over a period of 2 months. A total of 10 participants were engaged through semi-structured interviews. Results: The main findings of the study revealed that commitment and trust were found to be the antecedents of supplier integration and closer collaboration, while customer price pressure and limited available resources served as motivating factors for integration efforts. Conclusion: It is recommended that organisations must revisit integration efforts when new markets are penetrated and top management support must be revisited using a strategic framework. Keywords: Supply chain integration; supply chain commitment; organisational integration; performance; visibility; supplier integration; customer integration; qualitative study; semi-structured interview; basic research.

Plasma jet printing for flexible substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gandhiraman, Ram P.; Singh, Eric; Diaz-Cartagena, Diana C.; Koehne, Jessica; Meyyappan, M. [Center for Nanotechnology, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035 (United States); Nordlund, Dennis [Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States)

2016-03-21

Recent interest in flexible electronics and wearable devices has created a demand for fast and highly repeatable printing processes suitable for device manufacturing. Robust printing technology is critical for the integration of sensors and other devices on flexible substrates such as paper and textile. An atmospheric pressure plasma-based printing process has been developed to deposit different types of nanomaterials on flexible substrates. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes were deposited on paper to demonstrate site-selective deposition as well as direct printing without any type of patterning. Plasma-printed nanotubes were compared with non-plasma-printed samples under similar gas flow and other experimental conditions and found to be denser with higher conductivity. The utility of the nanotubes on the paper substrate as a biosensor and chemical sensor was demonstrated by the detection of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, and ammonia, respectively.

Strategies for Integrating Preparation and Realisation in a Manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Michael Holm; Kirkby, Phillip; Vesterager, Johan

1999-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the integration of the Product Model (PM) and the Product State Model (PSM). Focus is on information exchange from the PSM to the PM within the manufacturing of a single ship. The paper distinguishes between information and knowledge integration. The paper...... provides some overall strategies for integrating PM and PSM. The context of this discussion is a development project at Odense Steel Shipyard (OSS)....

Integration of Sensor and Actuator Networks and the SCADA System to Promote the Migration of the Legacy Flexible Manufacturing System towards the Industry 4.0 Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio José Calderón Godoy

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Networks of sensors and actuators in automated manufacturing processes are implemented using industrial fieldbuses, where automation units and supervisory systems are also connected to exchange operational information. In the context of the incoming fourth industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0, the management of legacy facilities is a paramount issue to deal with. This paper presents a solution to enhance the connectivity of a legacy Flexible Manufacturing System, which constitutes the first step in the adoption of the Industry 4.0 concept. Such a system includes the fieldbus PROcess FIeld BUS (PROFIBUS around which sensors, actuators, and controllers are interconnected. In order to establish effective communication between the sensors and actuators network and a supervisory system, a hardware and software approach including Ethernet connectivity is implemented. This work is envisioned to contribute to the migration of legacy systems towards the challenging Industry 4.0 framework. The experimental results prove the proper operation of the FMS and the feasibility of the proposal.

Flexible photonic-crystal Fano filters based on transferred semiconductor nanomembranes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou Weidong; Yang Hongjun; Qiang Zexuan; Chen Li; Yang Weiquan; Chuwongin, Santhad; Zhao Deyin [Department of Electrical Engineering, NanoFAB Center, University of Texas at Arlington, TX 76019 (United States); Ma Zhenqiang; Qin Guoxuan; Pang Huiqing, E-mail: wzhou@uta.ed, E-mail: mazq@engr.wisc.ed [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

2009-12-07

Crystalline semiconductor nanomembranes (NMs), which are transferable, stackable, bondable and manufacturable, offer unprecedented opportunities for unique and novel device applications. We report and review here nanophotonic devices based on stacked semiconductor NMs that were built on Si, glass and flexible PET substrates. Photonic-crystal Fano resonance based surface-normal optical filters and broadband reflectors have been demonstrated with unique angle and polarization properties. Such a low temperature NM stacking process can lead to a paradigm shift on silicon photonic integration and inorganic flexible photonics.

Total quality through computer integrated manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ufret, C M

1995-01-01

The role of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) in the pursue of total quality in pharmaceutical manufacturing is assessed. CIM key objectives, design criteria, and performance measurements, in addition to its scope and implementation in a hierarchical structure, are explored in detail. Key elements for the success of each phase in a CIM project and a brief status of current CIM implementations in the pharmaceutical industry are presented. The role of World Class Manufacturing performance standards and other key issues to achieve full CIM benefits are also addressed.

Supply chain integration: A qualitative exploration of perspectives from plastic manufacturers in Gauteng

OpenAIRE

Yvonne Vermeulen; Wesley Niemann; Theuns Kotzé

2016-01-01

Background: Supply chain integration was identified as a tool to assist an organisation to survive in a competitive marketplace. It was unclear how plastic manufacturers in Gauteng perceived supply chain integration efforts between themselves and their suppliers. Objectives: This study’s main purpose was to investigate the nature and extent of supply chain integration between 10 plastic manufacturers in Gauteng and their suppliers. The focus was on these manufacturers’ commitment to and p...

Model-based Engineering for the Integration of Manufacturing Systems with Advanced Analytics

OpenAIRE

Lechevalier , David; Narayanan , Anantha; Rachuri , Sudarsan; Foufou , Sebti; Lee , Y Tina

2016-01-01

Part 3: Interoperability and Systems Integration; International audience; To employ data analytics effectively and efficiently on manufacturing systems, engineers and data scientists need to collaborate closely to bring their domain knowledge together. In this paper, we introduce a domain-specific modeling approach to integrate a manufacturing system model with advanced analytics, in particular neural networks, to model predictions. Our approach combines a set of meta-models and transformatio...

Integration between manufacturers and third party logistics providers?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Ole; Lemoine, Olga W.

2008-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyse the extent of the integration between manufacturers and third party logistics (TPL) providers at present and how the integration is expected to develop in the near future. The focus is on studying what tasks are part of the cooperation, what...... of the eight business processes studied. Further integration in the same processes is expected, based on ICT tools and with a focus on cost. ICT competences are primarily seen as a qualifier not a differentiator. Because the future TPL industry is expected to be characterised by more standardised services...

Flexible job shop scheduling problem in manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Curralo, Ana; Pereira, Ana I.; Barbosa, José; Leitão, Paulo

2013-01-01

This paper addresses a real assembly cell: the AIP-PRIMECA cell at the Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, in France. This system can be viewed as a Flexible Job Shop, leading to the formulation of a Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem (FJSSP).

Validated Feasibility Study of Integrally Stiffened Metallic Fuselage Panels for Reducing Manufacturing Costs

Science.gov (United States)

Pettit, R. G.; Wang, J. J.; Toh, C.

2000-01-01

The continual need to reduce airframe cost and the emergence of high speed machining and other manufacturing technologies has brought about a renewed interest in large-scale integral structures for aircraft applications. Applications have been inhibited, however, because of the need to demonstrate damage tolerance, and by cost and manufacturing risks associated with the size and complexity of the parts. The Integral Airframe Structures (IAS) Program identified a feasible integrally stiffened fuselage concept and evaluated performance and manufacturing cost compared to conventional designs. An integral skin/stiffener concept was produced both by plate hog-out and near-net extrusion. Alloys evaluated included 7050-T7451 plate, 7050-T74511 extrusion, 6013-T6511 extrusion, and 7475-T7351 plate. Mechanical properties, structural details, and joint performance were evaluated as well as repair, static compression, and two-bay crack residual strength panels. Crack turning behavior was characterized through panel tests and improved methods for predicting crack turning were developed. Manufacturing cost was evaluated using COSTRAN. A hybrid design, made from high-speed machined extruded frames that are mechanically fastened to high-speed machined plate skin/stringer panels, was identified as the most cost-effective manufacturing solution. Recurring labor and material costs of the hybrid design are up to 61 percent less than the current technology baseline.

A stochastic framework for the grid integration of wind power using flexible load approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heydarian-Forushani, E.; Moghaddam, M.P.; Sheikh-El-Eslami, M.K.; Shafie-khah, M.; Catalão, J.P.S.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • This paper focuses on the potential of Demand Response Programs (DRPs) to contribute to flexibility. • A stochastic network constrained unit commitment associated with DR is presented. • DR participation levels and electricity tariffs are evaluated on providing a flexible load profile. • Novel quantitative indices for evaluating flexibility are defined to assess the success of DRPs. • DR types and customer participation levels are the main factors to modify the system load profile. - Abstract: Wind power integration has always been a key research area due to the green future power system target. However, the intermittent nature of wind power may impose some technical and economic challenges to Independent System Operators (ISOs) and increase the need for additional flexibility. Motivated by this need, this paper focuses on the potential of Demand Response Programs (DRPs) as an option to contribute to the flexible operation of power systems. On this basis, in order to consider the uncertain nature of wind power and the reality of electricity market, a Stochastic Network Constrained Unit Commitment associated with DR (SNCUCDR) is presented to schedule both generation units and responsive loads in power systems with high penetration of wind power. Afterwards, the effects of both price-based and incentive-based DRPs are evaluated, as well as DR participation levels and electricity tariffs on providing a flexible load profile and facilitating grid integration of wind power. For this reason, novel quantitative indices for evaluating flexibility are defined to assess the success of DRPs in terms of wind integration. Sensitivity studies indicate that DR types and customer participation levels are the main factors to modify the system load profile to support wind power integration

A Clonal Selection Algorithm for Minimizing Distance Travel and Back Tracking of Automatic Guided Vehicles in Flexible Manufacturing System

Science.gov (United States)

Chawla, Viveak Kumar; Chanda, Arindam Kumar; Angra, Surjit

2018-03-01

The flexible manufacturing system (FMS) constitute of several programmable production work centers, material handling systems (MHSs), assembly stations and automatic storage and retrieval systems. In FMS, the automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) play a vital role in material handling operations and enhance the performance of the FMS in its overall operations. To achieve low makespan and high throughput yield in the FMS operations, it is highly imperative to integrate the production work centers schedules with the AGVs schedules. The Production schedule for work centers is generated by application of the Giffler and Thompson algorithm under four kind of priority hybrid dispatching rules. Then the clonal selection algorithm (CSA) is applied for the simultaneous scheduling to reduce backtracking as well as distance travel of AGVs within the FMS facility. The proposed procedure is computationally tested on the benchmark FMS configuration from the literature and findings from the investigations clearly indicates that the CSA yields best results in comparison of other applied methods from the literature.

Hydropower flexibility and transmission expansion to support integration of offshore wind

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cutululis, Nicolaos Antonio; Farahmand, Hossein; Jaehnert, S.

2016-01-01

is one of the fast responding sources of electricity, thus power systems with considerable amounts of flexible hydro power can potentially offer easier integration of offshore wind power. The interaction between offshore wind and hydro power can be benefic, especially when looking at how the flexibility......In 2013, offshore wind grew over 50%. This increase, concentrated in a relatively small geographical area, can lead to an increased variability of the power produced by offshore wind. The variability is one of the key issues, along transmission, in integrating offshore wind power. Hydro power...... of hydro generation can match the variability of offshore wind, allowing for larger shares of variable generation to be integrated in the power systems without decreasing its stability. The analysis includes two interrelated models, a market model and a flow-based model. The results show that hydropower...

Power System Integration of Flexible Demand in the Low Voltage Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thavlov, Anders

, it is natural to consider electricity consumption from households as an integrated part of a potential flexible demand side in the future power system. However, as an individual unit a single household is not able to generate a large impact in the power system. Therefore, a mechanism is needed which can...... is even greater as almost 50% of the electricity consumption in households is utilised for space heating and cooling and for heating of domestic hot water. Consequently, there exists a significant potential in the integration of power consumption for heating purposes in households for demand response...... of electricity on the Nordic energy exchange, Nord Pool, or alternatively the flexibility can be sold as an ancillary service to the transmission system operator. In this way, the electricity consumption in households are indirectly integrated into the power market, through the virtual power plant...

A Technology Selection Framework for Integrating Manufacturing within a Supply Chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farooq, Sami; O' Brien, Chris

2012-01-01

This paper describes a structured analytical approach for selecting a manufacturing technology. A framework consisting of six integrated steps is proposed by considering the growing importance of supply chains in manufacturing organisations. The framework makes use of Analytical Hierarchy (AHP......) approach combined with Strategic Assessment Model (SAM) to evaluate and select the technologies appropriate for providing overall competitive advantage. The framework is intended to assist industrial managers in promoting manufacturing and supply chain collaboration and coordination by including intra...

Service Orientation in Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing Control

CERN Document Server

Thomas, André; Trentesaux, Damien

2012-01-01

Service orientation is emerging nowadays at multiple organizational levels in enterprise business, and it leverages technology in response to the growing need for greater business integration, flexibility and agility of manufacturing enterprises. This book gathers contributions from scientists, researchers and industrialists on concepts, methods, frameworks and implementing issues addressing trends in the service orientation of control technology and management applied to manufacturing enterprise. It analyzes a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) representing a technical architecture, a business modelling concept, a type of infrastructure, an integration source and a new way of viewing units of automation within the enterprise. The presents how SOA aligns the business world with the world of information technology in a way that makes both more effective.  

Flexible circuits with integrated switches for robotic shape sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Harnett, C. K.

2016-05-01

Digital switches are commonly used for detecting surface contact and limb-position limits in robotics. The typical momentary-contact digital switch is a mechanical device made from metal springs, designed to connect with a rigid printed circuit board (PCB). However, flexible printed circuits are taking over from the rigid PCB in robotics because the circuits can bend while carrying signals and power through moving joints. This project is motivated by a previous work where an array of surface-mount momentary contact switches on a flexible circuit acted as an all-digital shape sensor compatible with the power resources of energy harvesting systems. Without a rigid segment, the smallest commercially-available surface-mount switches would detach from the flexible circuit after several bending cycles, sometimes violently. This report describes a low-cost, conductive fiber based method to integrate electromechanical switches into flexible circuits and other soft, bendable materials. Because the switches are digital (on/off), they differ from commercially-available continuous-valued bend/flex sensors. No amplification or analog-to-digital conversion is needed to read the signal, but the tradeoff is that the digital switches only give a threshold curvature value. Boundary conditions on the edges of the flexible circuit are key to setting the threshold curvature value for switching. This presentation will discuss threshold-setting, size scaling of the design, automation for inserting a digital switch into the flexible circuit fabrication process, and methods for reconstructing a shape from an array of digital switch states.

Integrated engineering increases flexibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Ray

1991-01-01

Integrated Engineering (IE) can be used to describe the best use of increasingly rare good engineering talent in an increasingly competive world. A number of organisations are now moving towards IE without any general agreement on a precise definition. The engineering division of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is one such organisation. This feature covers the reasoning behind the decision, and our experience to date. BNFL engineering division is responsible primarily for the provision of major facilities on BNFL operational sites. This provision includes feasibility, front end and detailed design, procurement, installation and commissioning. Task force working has been used for some of the large projects. But the future workload is expected to comprise many more smaller projects. At the same time, equipment is becoming more complex and the need for mutual understanding and appreciation between disciplines is increasing. To meet this increasing need for flexibility, BNFL has decided to move to the matrix structure of project management and functional departments described in the article. (Author)

Highly Integrated, Reconfigurable, Large-Area, Flexible Radar Antenna Arrays, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Highly-integrated, reconfigurable radar antenna arrays fabricated on flexible substrates offer high functionality in a portable package that can be rolled up and...

Research on Computer Integrated Manufacturing of Sheet Metal Parts for Lithium Battery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pan Wei-Min

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Lithium battery has been widely used as the main driving force of the new energy vehicle in recent years. Sheet metal parts are formed by means of pressure forming techniques with the characteristics of light weight, small size and high structural strength. The sheet metal forming has higher productivity and material utilization than the mechanical cutting, therefore sheet metal parts are widely used in many fields, such as modern automotive industry, aviation, aerospace, machine tools, instruments and household appliances. In this paper, taking a complex lithium battery box as an example, the integrated manufacturing of sheet metal parts is studied, and the digital integrated design and manufacturing process system is proposed. The technology is studied such as sheet metal design, unfolding, sheet nesting and laser cutting, CNC turret punch stamping programming, CNC bending etc. The feasibility of the method is verified through the examples of products and the integrated manufacturing of sheet metal box is completed.

Flexible integration of free-standing nanowires into silicon photonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bigeng; Wu, Hao; Xin, Chenguang; Dai, Daoxin; Tong, Limin

2017-06-14

Silicon photonics has been developed successfully with a top-down fabrication technique to enable large-scale photonic integrated circuits with high reproducibility, but is limited intrinsically by the material capability for active or nonlinear applications. On the other hand, free-standing nanowires synthesized via a bottom-up growth present great material diversity and structural uniformity, but precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a great challenge. Here we report hybrid integration of free-standing nanowires into silicon photonics with high flexibility by coupling free-standing nanowires onto target silicon waveguides that are simultaneously used for precise positioning. Coupling efficiency between a free-standing nanowire and a silicon waveguide is up to ~97% in the telecommunication band. A hybrid nonlinear-free-standing nanowires-silicon waveguides Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a racetrack resonator for significantly enhanced optical modulation are experimentally demonstrated, as well as hybrid active-free-standing nanowires-silicon waveguides circuits for light generation. These results suggest an alternative approach to flexible multifunctional on-chip nanophotonic devices.Precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a challenge. Here, Chen et al. integrate free-standing nanowires into silicon waveguides and show all-optical modulation and light generation on silicon photonic chips.

Flexible and integrated supercapacitor with tunable energy storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Changxiang; Xu, Tong; Gao, Jian; Liang, Yuan; Zhao, Yang; Qu, Liangti

2017-08-31

A flexible integrated supercapacitor based on three dimensional reduced graphene oxide/graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide (RGO-GO-RGO) foam has been fabricated via a laser direct writing strategy. The supercapacitor with outstanding mechanical properties shows a high capacitance performance which can be easily regulated by controlling the compressive state of the electrodes. This work provides a new platform for potential applications in the next-generation intelligent power supply of electronics.

Artificial intelligence in conceptual design of intelligent manufacturing systems: A state of the art review

OpenAIRE

Petrović, Milica M.; Miljković, Zoran Đ.; Babić, Bojan R.

2013-01-01

Intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), as the highest class of flexible manufacturing systems, are able to adapt to market changes applying methods of artificial intelligence. This paper presents a detailed review of the following IMS functions: (i) process planning optimization, (ii) scheduling optimization, (iii) integrated process planning and scheduling, and (iv) mobile robot scheduling for internal material transport tasks. The research presented in this paper shows that improved perfo...

Programación y Control de Sistemas de Fabricación Flexibles: un Enfoque Holónico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.A. Araúzo

2015-01-01

, and robust production management systems. In this paper we propose a holonic system for scheduling and control of flexible manufacturing systems. The system is based on a new architecture that integrates two decision levels: a level of auction-based scheduling, where each holon performs its own local schedule, and another level of dispatching and control that coordinate holons activities. Unlike other studies in which local schedules are integrated into a global schedule that centralizes the system, the proposed system is not so. The dispatching and control mechanism is responsible to integrate the local programs. In addition, the developed prototype can operate with different degrees of decentralization, which allows evaluating the advantages that our approach provides by means of simulation. Palabras clave: Control de la producción, sistemas de producción, algoritmos de programación, sistemas de fabricación flexibles, sistemas de fabricación inteligentes., Keywords: Production control, production systems, scheduling algorithms, flexible manufacturing systems, intelligent manufacturing systems.

Flexibility evaluation of multiechelon supply chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, João Flávio de Freitas; Conceição, Samuel Vieira; Pinto, Luiz Ricardo; de Camargo, Ricardo Saraiva; Júnior, Gilberto de Miranda

2018-01-01

Multiechelon supply chains are complex logistics systems that require flexibility and coordination at a tactical level to cope with environmental uncertainties in an efficient and effective manner. To cope with these challenges, mathematical programming models are developed to evaluate supply chain flexibility. However, under uncertainty, supply chain models become complex and the scope of flexibility analysis is generally reduced. This paper presents a unified approach that can evaluate the flexibility of a four-echelon supply chain via a robust stochastic programming model. The model simultaneously considers the plans of multiple business divisions such as marketing, logistics, manufacturing, and procurement, whose goals are often conflicting. A numerical example with deterministic parameters is presented to introduce the analysis, and then, the model stochastic parameters are considered to evaluate flexibility. The results of the analysis on supply, manufacturing, and distribution flexibility are presented. Tradeoff analysis of demand variability and service levels is also carried out. The proposed approach facilitates the adoption of different management styles, thus improving supply chain resilience. The model can be extended to contexts pertaining to supply chain disruptions; for example, the model can be used to explore operation strategies when subtle events disrupt supply, manufacturing, or distribution.

Capacity flexibility allocation in an outsourced supply chain with reservation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boulaksil, Youssef; Grunow, Martin; Fransoo, J.C.

2011-01-01

We consider a contract manufacturer that serves a limited number of outsourcers (customers) on a single capacitated production line. the outsourcers have different levels of demand uncertainty and the contract manufacturer faces the question how to allocate the contractual capacity flexibility...... in an optimal way. The contractual capacity flexibility is a contract parameter that sets the amount of demand the contract manufacturer is obliged to accept from the outsourcers. We develop a hierachical model that consists of two decision levels. At the tactical level, the contract manufacturer allocates...... the capacity flexibility to the different outsourcers by maximizing the expected profit. Offering more flexibility to the more uncertain outsourcer generates higher expected revenue, but also increases the expected penalty costs. The allocated capacity flexibilities (determined at the tactical level) are input...

PENDEKATAN ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING DAN METODE PENCARIAN HEURISTIC UNTUK MENYELESAIKAN PROBLEM PEMILIHAN PERALATAN PADA FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS (FMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregorius Satia Budhi

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The application of Activity Based Costing (ABC approach to select the set-machine that is used in the production of Flexible Manufacture System (FMS based on technical and economical criteria can be useful for producers to design FMS by considering the minimum production cost. In the other hand, Heuristic Search is known to have a short searching time. Algorithm Heuristic that using ABC approach as the weight in finding the solution to shorten the equipment selection time during the design / redesign process of the FMS in less than exponential time was designed in this research. The increasing speed is useful because with the faster time in design / redesign process, therefore the flexibility level of part variety that can be processed will become better. Theoretical and empirical analysis in Algorithm Heuristic shows that time searching to get appropriate set of equipment is not too long, so that we can assume that the designed Algorithm Heuristic can be implemented in the real world. By comparing the empirical result of Algorithm Heuristic to the Algorithm Exhaustive, we can also assume that Algorithm Heuristic that using ABC method as the weight for finding solution can optimise the equipment selection problem of FMS based on economical criteria too. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Penggunaan pendekatan Activity Based Costing (ABC untuk memilih set mesin yang digunakan dalam produksi pada Flexible Manufacture Systems (FMS berdasar atas kriteria teknis dan ekonomis, dapat membantu pelaku produksi untuk mendisain FMS dengan pertimbangan minimalisasi biaya produksi. Sementara itu, Heuristic Search dikenal memiliki waktu pencarian yang singkat. Pada riset ini didisain sebuah Algoritma Heuristic yang menggunakan pendekatan ABC sebagai bobot dalam pencarian solusi, untuk mempersingkat waktu pemilihan peralatan saat desain/redisain FMS dalam waktu kurang dari waktu Eksponensial. Peningkatan kecepatan ini bermanfaat, karena dengan cepatnya waktu

Integration of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers to Microfluidic Devices

KAUST Repository

Viržonis, Darius; Kodzius, Rimantas; Vanagas, Galius

2013-01-01

The design and manufacturing flexibility of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUT) makes them attractive option for integration with microfluidic devices both for sensing and fluid manipulation. CMUT concept is introduced here

All-Embracing Manufacturing Roadmap System

CERN Document Server

Halevi, Gideon

2012-01-01

All-embracing manufacturing is a system that aims to dissolve the complexity of the manufacturing process and restore the inherent simplicity. It claims that production is very simple and flexible by nature. However, the complexity is a result of the production system approach which makes it rigid and therefore complex. All-embracing manufacturing introduces flexibility to production planning, it eliminates constraints, bottlenecks, and disruptions automatically while it restores the simplicity. No decision is made ahead of time, but only at the time of execution. It introduces technology as dominant part of manufacturing. It is a computer oriented system that imitates human behavior i.e. practically as any of us behave in daily personal life.

Manufacturing scheduling systems an integrated view on models, methods and tools

CERN Document Server

Framinan, Jose M; Ruiz García, Rubén

2014-01-01

The book is devoted to the problem of manufacturing scheduling, which is the efficient allocation of jobs (orders) over machines (resources) in a manufacturing facility. It offers a comprehensive and integrated perspective on the different aspects required to design and implement systems to efficiently and effectively support manufacturing scheduling decisions. Obtaining economic and reliable schedules constitutes the core of excellence in customer service and efficiency in manufacturing operations. Therefore, scheduling forms an area of vital importance for competition in manufacturing companies. However, only a fraction of scheduling research has been translated into practice, due to several reasons. First, the inherent complexity of scheduling has led to an excessively fragmented field in which different sub problems and issues are treated in an independent manner as goals themselves, therefore lacking a unifying view of the scheduling problem. Furthermore, mathematical brilliance and elegance has sometime...

Role of Ontologies for CPS Implementation in Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garetti Marco

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Cyber Physical Systems are an evolution of embedded systems featuring a tight combination of collaborating computational elements that control physical entities. CPSs promise a great potential of innovation in many areas including manufacturing and production. This is because we obtain a very powerful, flexible, modular infrastructure allowing easy (re configurability and fast ramp-up of manufacturing applications by building a manufacturing system with modular mechatronic components (for machining, transportation and storage and embedded intelligence, by integrating them into a system, through a network connection. However, when building such kind of architectures, the way to supply the needed domain knowledge to real manufacturing applications arises as a problem to solve. In fact, a CPS based architecture for manufacturing is made of smart but independent manufacturing components without any knowledge of the role they have to play together in the real world of manufacturing applications. Ontologies can supply such kind of knowledge, playing a very important role in CPS for manufacturing. The paper deals with this intriguing theme, also presenting an implementation of this approach in a research project for the open automation of manufacturing systems, in which the power of CPS is complemented by the support of an ontology of the manufacturing domain.

Knowledge Assisted Integrated Design of a Component and Its Manufacturing Process

Science.gov (United States)

Gautham, B. P.; Kulkarni, Nagesh; Khan, Danish; Zagade, Pramod; Reddy, Sreedhar; Uppaluri, Rohith

Integrated design of a product and its manufacturing processes would significantly reduce the total cost of the products as well as the cost of its development. However this would only be possible if we have a platform that allows us to link together simulations tools used for product design, performance evaluation and its manufacturing processes in a closed loop. In addition to that having a comprehensive knowledgebase that provides systematic knowledge guided assistance to product or process designers who may not possess in-depth design knowledge or in-depth knowledge of the simulation tools, would significantly speed up the end-to-end design process. In this paper, we propose a process and illustrate a case for achieving an integrated product and manufacturing process design assisted by knowledge support for the user to make decisions at various stages. We take transmission component design as an example. The example illustrates the design of a gear for its geometry, material selection and its manufacturing processes, particularly, carburizing-quenching and tempering, and feeding the material properties predicted during heat treatment into performance estimation in a closed loop. It also identifies and illustrates various decision stages in the integrated life cycle and discusses the use of knowledge engineering tools such as rule-based guidance, to assist the designer make informed decisions. Simulation tools developed on various commercial, open-source platforms as well as in-house tools along with knowledge engineering tools are linked to build a framework with appropriate navigation through user-friendly interfaces. This is illustrated through examples in this paper.

The Enterprise Derivative Application: Flexible Software for Optimizing Manufacturing Processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, Richard C [ORNL; Allgood, Glenn O [ORNL; Knox, John R [ORNL

2008-11-01

The Enterprise Derivative Application (EDA) implements the enterprise-derivative analysis for optimization of an industrial process (Allgood and Manges, 2001). It is a tool to help industry planners choose the most productive way of manufacturing their products while minimizing their cost. Developed in MS Access, the application allows users to input initial data ranging from raw material to variable costs and enables the tracking of specific information as material is passed from one process to another. Energy-derivative analysis is based on calculation of sensitivity parameters. For the specific application to a steel production process these include: the cost to product sensitivity, the product to energy sensitivity, the energy to efficiency sensitivity, and the efficiency to cost sensitivity. Using the EDA, for all processes the user can display a particular sensitivity or all sensitivities can be compared for all processes. Although energy-derivative analysis was originally designed for use by the steel industry, it is flexible enough to be applied to many other industrial processes. Examples of processes where energy-derivative analysis would prove useful are wireless monitoring of processes in the petroleum cracking industry and wireless monitoring of motor failure for determining the optimum time to replace motor parts. One advantage of the MS Access-based application is its flexibility in defining the process flow and establishing the relationships between parent and child process and products resulting from a process. Due to the general design of the program, a process can be anything that occurs over time with resulting output (products). So the application can be easily modified to many different industrial and organizational environments. Another advantage is the flexibility of defining sensitivity parameters. Sensitivities can be determined between all possible variables in the process flow as a function of time. Thus the dynamic development of the

Integration of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers to Microfluidic Devices

KAUST Repository

Viržonis, Darius

2013-10-22

The design and manufacturing flexibility of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUT) makes them attractive option for integration with microfluidic devices both for sensing and fluid manipulation. CMUT concept is introduced here by presentin

Flexibility evaluation of multiechelon supply chains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Flávio de Freitas Almeida

Full Text Available Multiechelon supply chains are complex logistics systems that require flexibility and coordination at a tactical level to cope with environmental uncertainties in an efficient and effective manner. To cope with these challenges, mathematical programming models are developed to evaluate supply chain flexibility. However, under uncertainty, supply chain models become complex and the scope of flexibility analysis is generally reduced. This paper presents a unified approach that can evaluate the flexibility of a four-echelon supply chain via a robust stochastic programming model. The model simultaneously considers the plans of multiple business divisions such as marketing, logistics, manufacturing, and procurement, whose goals are often conflicting. A numerical example with deterministic parameters is presented to introduce the analysis, and then, the model stochastic parameters are considered to evaluate flexibility. The results of the analysis on supply, manufacturing, and distribution flexibility are presented. Tradeoff analysis of demand variability and service levels is also carried out. The proposed approach facilitates the adoption of different management styles, thus improving supply chain resilience. The model can be extended to contexts pertaining to supply chain disruptions; for example, the model can be used to explore operation strategies when subtle events disrupt supply, manufacturing, or distribution.

Ramp Technology and Intelligent Processing in Small Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Rentz, Richard E.

1992-01-01

To address the issues of excessive inventories and increasing procurement lead times, the Navy is actively pursuing flexible computer integrated manufacturing (FCIM) technologies, integrated by communication networks to respond rapidly to its requirements for parts. The Rapid Acquisition of Manufactured Parts (RAMP) program, initiated in 1986, is an integral part of this effort. The RAMP program's goal is to reduce the current average production lead times experienced by the Navy's inventory control points by a factor of 90 percent. The manufacturing engineering component of the RAMP architecture utilizes an intelligent processing technology built around a knowledge-based shell provided by ICAD, Inc. Rules and data bases in the software simulate an expert manufacturing planner's knowledge of shop processes and equipment. This expert system can use Product Data Exchange using STEP (PDES) data to determine what features the required part has, what material is required to manufacture it, what machines and tools are needed, and how the part should be held (fixtured) for machining, among other factors. The program's rule base then indicates, for example, how to make each feature, in what order to make it, and to which machines on the shop floor the part should be routed for processing. This information becomes part of the shop work order. The process planning function under RAMP greatly reduces the time and effort required to complete a process plan. Since the PDES file that drives the intelligent processing is 100 percent complete and accurate to start with, the potential for costly errors is greatly diminished.

Human factors in agile manufacturing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forsythe, C.

1995-03-01

As industries position themselves for the competitive markets of today, and the increasingly competitive global markets of the 21st century, agility, or the ability to rapidly develop and produce new products, represents a common trend. Agility manifests itself in many different forms, with the agile manufacturing paradigm proposed by the Iacocca Institute offering a generally accepted, long-term vision. In its many forms, common elements of agility or agile manufacturing include: changes in business, engineering and production practices, seamless information flow from design through production, integration of computer and information technologies into all facets of the product development and production process, application of communications technologies to enable collaborative work between geographically dispersed product development team members and introduction of flexible automation of production processes. Industry has rarely experienced as dramatic an infusion of new technologies or as extensive a change in culture and work practices. Human factors will not only play a vital role in accomplishing the technical and social objectives of agile manufacturing. but has an opportunity to participate in shaping the evolution of industry paradigms for the 21st century.

Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petti, Luisa; Vogt, Christian; Büthe, Lars; Cantarella, Giuseppe; Tröster, Gerhard [Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (Switzerland); Münzenrieder, Niko [Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (Switzerland); Sensor Technology Research Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer (United Kingdom); Faber, Hendrik; Bottacchi, Francesca; Anthopoulos, Thomas D. [Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)

2016-06-15

The field of flexible electronics has rapidly expanded over the last decades, pioneering novel applications, such as wearable and textile integrated devices, seamless and embedded patch-like systems, soft electronic skins, as well as imperceptible and transient implants. The possibility to revolutionize our daily life with such disruptive appliances has fueled the quest for electronic devices which yield good electrical and mechanical performance and are at the same time light-weight, transparent, conformable, stretchable, and even biodegradable. Flexible metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) can fulfill all these requirements and are therefore considered the most promising technology for tomorrow's electronics. This review reflects the establishment of flexible metal oxide semiconductor TFTs, from the development of single devices, large-area circuits, up to entirely integrated systems. First, an introduction on metal oxide semiconductor TFTs is given, where the history of the field is revisited, the TFT configurations and operating principles are presented, and the main issues and technological challenges faced in the area are analyzed. Then, the recent advances achieved for flexible n-type metal oxide semiconductor TFTs manufactured by physical vapor deposition methods and solution-processing techniques are summarized. In particular, the ability of flexible metal oxide semiconductor TFTs to combine low temperature fabrication, high carrier mobility, large frequency operation, extreme mechanical bendability, together with transparency, conformability, stretchability, and water dissolubility is shown. Afterward, a detailed analysis of the most promising metal oxide semiconducting materials developed to realize the state-of-the-art flexible p-type TFTs is given. Next, the recent progresses obtained for flexible metal oxide semiconductor-based electronic circuits, realized with both unipolar and complementary technology, are reported. In

Development of Integration in Manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Torben; Trostmann, Erik

1996-01-01

significance to all manufacturing industries.International standardization based on the product model definition standard STEP (ISO10303) is playing a key role in promoting a modern approach to Product Data Technology. The initial release of STEP, consisting of twelve essential parts, has recently been...... must be extended to cope with descriptions of functional behavior of products.In the robotics area, Computer Aided Robotics (CAR) systems for design, off-line programming, and simulation are currently increasing their model features with new topics, such as multi-body dynamics, realistic motion......Current international developments in the broad field of Product Data Technology are advancing rapidly and are leading up to new levels of technology in product model definition, product model communications, enterprise integration and cooperation. These developments will be of strategic...

The importance of flexible power plant operation for Jiangsu's wind integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hong, Lixuan; Lund, Henrik; Möller, Bernd

2012-01-01

This paper presents the influence of different regulation strategies on wind energy integration into the existing energy system of Jiangsu. The ability of wind integration is defined in terms of the ability to avoid excess electricity production, to conserve primary energy consumption and to redu...... regulations of Jiangsu’s energy system are compared and analyzed in the range of a wind input from 0% to 42% of the total electricity demand. It is concluded that operating power plants in a flexible way facilitates the promotion of more intermittent wind integration....

The electrodeposition of multilayers on a polymeric substrate in flexible organic photovoltaic solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Guedes, Andre F. S.; Guedes, Vilmar P.; Souza, Monica L.; Tartari, Simone; Cunha, Idaulo J.

2015-09-01

Flexible organic photovoltaic solar cells have drawn intense attention due to their advantages over competing solar cell technologies. The method utilized to deposit as well as to integrate solutions and processed materials, manufacturing organic solar cells by the Electrodeposition System, has been presented in this research. In addition, we have demonstrated a successful integration of a process for manufacturing the flexible organic solar cell prototype and we have discussed on the factors that make this process possible. The maximum process temperature was 120°C, which corresponds to the baking of the active polymeric layer. Moreover, the new process of the Electrodeposition of complementary active layer is based on the application of voltage versus time in order to obtain a homogeneous layer with thin film. This thin film was not only obtained by the electrodeposition of PANI-X1 on P3HT/PCBM Blend, but also prepared in perchloric acid solution. Furthermore, these flexible organic photovoltaic solar cells presented power conversion efficiency of 12% and the inclusion of the PANI-X1 layer reduced the effects of degradation on these organic photovoltaic panels induced by solar irradiation. Thus, in the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), these studies have revealed that the surface of PANI-X1 layers is strongly conditioned by the dielectric surface morphology.

Wafer-scale integrated micro-supercapacitors on an ultrathin and highly flexible biomedical platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Maeng, Jimin; Meng, Chuizhou; Irazoqui, Pedro P

2015-02-01

We present wafer-scale integrated micro-supercapacitors on an ultrathin and highly flexible parylene platform, as progress toward sustainably powering biomedical microsystems suitable for implantable and wearable applications. All-solid-state, low-profile (supercapacitors are formed on an ultrathin (~20 μm) freestanding parylene film by a wafer-scale parylene packaging process in combination with a polyaniline (PANI) nanowire growth technique assisted by surface plasma treatment. These micro-supercapacitors are highly flexible and shown to be resilient toward flexural stress. Further, direct integration of micro-supercapacitors into a radio frequency (RF) rectifying circuit is achieved on a single parylene platform, yielding a complete RF energy harvesting microsystem. The system discharging rate is shown to improve by ~17 times in the presence of the integrated micro-supercapacitors. This result suggests that the integrated micro-supercapacitor technology described herein is a promising strategy for sustainably powering biomedical microsystems dedicated to implantable and wearable applications.

NextFlex Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

of the power of silicon and the economies and unique capabilities of printed circuitry to form a new class of devices for the Internet of Things (IoT...innovative medical devices that can take Processor* Display* Memory + Polymer Solar Cell # Flexible Substrate Sensors* Antenna #Thin Film Battery

Experimental and theoretical analysis of integrated circuit (IC) chips on flexible substrates subjected to bending

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ying; Yuan, Jianghong; Zhang, Yingchao; Huang, Yonggang; Feng, Xue

2017-10-01

The interfacial failure of integrated circuit (IC) chips integrated on flexible substrates under bending deformation has been studied theoretically and experimentally. A compressive buckling test is used to impose the bending deformation onto the interface between the IC chip and the flexible substrate quantitatively, after which the failed interface is investigated using scanning electron microscopy. A theoretical model is established based on the beam theory and a bi-layer interface model, from which an analytical expression of the critical curvature in relation to the interfacial failure is obtained. The relationships between the critical curvature, the material, and the geometric parameters of the device are discussed in detail, providing guidance for future optimization flexible circuits based on IC chips.

Towards Flexible Self-powered Micro-scale Integrated Systems

KAUST Repository

Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto

2014-04-01

Today’s information-centered world leads the ever-increasing consumer demand for more powerful, multifunctional portable devices. Additionally, recent developments on long-lasting energy sources and compliant, flexible systems, have introduced new required features to the portable devices industry. For example, wireless sensor networks are in urgent need of self-sustainable, easy-to-deploy, mobile platforms, wirelessly interconnected and accessible through a cloud computing system. The objective of my doctoral work is to develop integration strategies to effectively fabricate mechanically flexible, energy-independent systems, which could empower sensor networks for a great variety of new exciting applications. The first module, flexible electronics, can be achieved through several techniques and materials. Our main focus is to bring mechanical flexibility to the state-of-the-art high performing silicon-based electronics, with billions of ultra-low power, nano-sized transistors. Therefore, we have developed a low-cost batch fabrication process to transform standard, rigid, mono-crystalline silicon (100) wafer with devices, into a thin (5-20 m), mechanically flexible, optically semi-transparent silicon fabric. Recycling of the remaining wafer is possible, enabling generation of multiple fabrics to ensure lowcost and optimal utilization of the whole substrate. We have shown mono, amorphous and poly-crystalline silicon and silicon dioxide fabrics, featuring industry’s most advanced high-/metal-gate based capacitors and transistors. The second module consists on the development of efficient energy scavenging systems. First, we have identified an innovative and relatively young technology, which can address at the same time two of the main concerns of human kind: water and energy. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are capable of producing energy out the metabolism of bacteria while treating wastewater. We have developed two micro-liter MFC designs, one with carbon

Advanced Manufacturing Technologies and Strategically Flexible Production. A Review and Outlook

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boer, Harry

2016-01-01

) led to only partial results, and were often abandoned or scaled down. At the same time, a number of soft organizational and managerial approaches and improvement programs, mostly derived from Japan, began to spread in response to the dramatic changes in the competitive environment that seemed...... to require new rationales to organize and manage production systems. However, the compatibility and coherence between changing organizational paradigms and CIM approaches were not extensively explored nor understood. This paper aims to investigate the interactions between the implementation and integration...... of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) and the adoption of new managerial and organizational principles....

Silicon-Film(TM) Solar Cells by a Flexible Manufacturing System: Final Report, 16 April 1998 -- 31 March 2001

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rand, J.

2002-02-01

This report describes the overall goal to engineer and develop flexible manufacturing methods and equipment to process Silicon-Film solar cells and modules. Three major thrusts of this three-year effort were to: develop a new larger-area (208 mm x 208 mm) Silicon-Film solar cell, the APx-8; construct and operate a new high-throughput wafer-making system; and develop a 15-MW single-thread manufacturing process. Specific technical accomplishments from this period are: Increase solar cell area by 80%, increase the generation capacity of a Silicon-Film wafer-making system by 350%, use a new in-line HF etch system in solar cell production, design and develop an in-line NaOH etch system, eliminate cassettes in solar cell processing, and design a new family of module products.

Modelling and Analysing Deadlock in Flexible Manufacturing System using Timed Petri Net

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Assem Hatem Taha

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Flexible manufacturing system (FMS has several advantages compared to conventional systems such as higher machine utilization, higher efficiency, less inventory, and less production time. On the other hand, FMS is expensive and complicated. One of the main problems that may happen is the deadlock. Deadlock is a case that happens when one operation or more are unable to complete their tasks because of waiting of resources that are used by other processes. This may occur due to inappropriate sharing of the resources or improper resource allocation logic which may lead to deadlock occurrence due to the complexity of assigning shared resources to different tasks in an efficient way. One of the most effective tools to model and detect the deadlocks is the petri net. In this research the Matlab software has been used to detect the deadlock in two parallel lines with one shared machines. The analysis shows that deadlock exists at transition with high utilization and place with high waiting time

CIPSS [computer-integrated process and safeguards system]: The integration of computer-integrated manufacturing and robotics with safeguards, security, and process operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonard, R.S.; Evans, J.C.

1987-01-01

This poster session describes the computer-integrated process and safeguards system (CIPSS). The CIPSS combines systems developed for factory automation and automated mechanical functions (robots) with varying degrees of intelligence (expert systems) to create an integrated system that would satisfy current and emerging security and safeguards requirements. Specifically, CIPSS is an extension of the automated physical security functions concepts. The CIPSS also incorporates the concepts of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) with integrated safeguards concepts, and draws upon the Defense Advance Research Project Agency's (DARPA's) strategic computing program

Manufacturing and properties of closure head forging integrated with flange for PWR reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomoharu Sasaki; Iku Kurihara; Etsuo Murai; Yasuhiko Tanaka; Koumei Suzuki

2003-01-01

Closure head forging (SA508, Gr.3 Cl.1) integrated with flange for PWR reactor pressure vessel has been developed. This is intended to enhance structural integrity of closure head resulted in elimination of ISI, by eliminating weld joint between closure head and flange in the conventional design. Manufacturing procedures have been established so that homogeneity and isotropy of the material properties can be assured in the closure head forging integrated with flange. Acceptance tensile and impact test specimens are taken and tested regarding the closure head forging integrated with flange as very thick and complex forgings. This paper describes the manufacturing technologies and material properties of the closure head forging integrated with flange. (orig.)

Cloud-Based Automated Design and Additive Manufacturing: A Usage Data-Enabled Paradigm Shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmhus, Dirk; Wuest, Thorsten; Wellsandt, Stefan; Bosse, Stefan; Kaihara, Toshiya; Thoben, Klaus-Dieter; Busse, Matthias

2015-12-19

Integration of sensors into various kinds of products and machines provides access to in-depth usage information as basis for product optimization. Presently, this large potential for more user-friendly and efficient products is not being realized because (a) sensor integration and thus usage information is not available on a large scale and (b) product optimization requires considerable efforts in terms of manpower and adaptation of production equipment. However, with the advent of cloud-based services and highly flexible additive manufacturing techniques, these obstacles are currently crumbling away at rapid pace. The present study explores the state of the art in gathering and evaluating product usage and life cycle data, additive manufacturing and sensor integration, automated design and cloud-based services in manufacturing. By joining and extrapolating development trends in these areas, it delimits the foundations of a manufacturing concept that will allow continuous and economically viable product optimization on a general, user group or individual user level. This projection is checked against three different application scenarios, each of which stresses different aspects of the underlying holistic concept. The following discussion identifies critical issues and research needs by adopting the relevant stakeholder perspectives.

Cloud-Based Automated Design and Additive Manufacturing: A Usage Data-Enabled Paradigm Shift

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmhus, Dirk; Wuest, Thorsten; Wellsandt, Stefan; Bosse, Stefan; Kaihara, Toshiya; Thoben, Klaus-Dieter; Busse, Matthias

2015-01-01

Integration of sensors into various kinds of products and machines provides access to in-depth usage information as basis for product optimization. Presently, this large potential for more user-friendly and efficient products is not being realized because (a) sensor integration and thus usage information is not available on a large scale and (b) product optimization requires considerable efforts in terms of manpower and adaptation of production equipment. However, with the advent of cloud-based services and highly flexible additive manufacturing techniques, these obstacles are currently crumbling away at rapid pace. The present study explores the state of the art in gathering and evaluating product usage and life cycle data, additive manufacturing and sensor integration, automated design and cloud-based services in manufacturing. By joining and extrapolating development trends in these areas, it delimits the foundations of a manufacturing concept that will allow continuous and economically viable product optimization on a general, user group or individual user level. This projection is checked against three different application scenarios, each of which stresses different aspects of the underlying holistic concept. The following discussion identifies critical issues and research needs by adopting the relevant stakeholder perspectives. PMID:26703606

Developing a flexible and verifiable integrated dose assessment capability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parzyck, D.C.; Rhea, T.A.; Copenhaver, E.D.; Bogard, J.S.

1987-01-01

A flexible yet verifiable system of computing and recording personnel doses is needed. Recent directions in statutes establish the trend of combining internal and external doses. We are developing a Health Physics Information Management System (HPIMS) that will centralize dosimetry calculations and data storage; integrate health physics records with other health-related disciplines, such as industrial hygiene, medicine, and safety; provide a more auditable system with published algorithms and clearly defined flowcharts of system operation; readily facilitate future changes dictated by new regulations, new dosimetric models, and new systems of units; and address ad-hoc inquiries regarding worker/workplace interactions, including potential synergisms with non-radiation exposures. The system is modular and provides a high degree of isolation from low-level detail, allowing flexibility for changes without adversely affecting other parts of the system. 10 refs., 3 figs

Meta-hierarchical-heuristic-mathematical- model of loading problems in flexible manufacturing system for development of an intelligent approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ranbir Singh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Flexible manufacturing system (FMS promises a wide range of manufacturing benefits in terms of flexibility and productivity. These benefits are targeted by efficient production planning. Part type selection, machine grouping, deciding production ratio, resource allocation and machine loading are five identified production planning problems. Machine loading is the most identified complex problem solved with aid of computers. System up gradation and newer technology adoption are the primary needs of efficient FMS generating new scopes of research in the field. The literature review is carried and the critical analysis is being executed in the present work. This paper presents the outcomes of the mathematical modelling techniques for loading of machines in FMS’s. It was also analysed that the mathematical modelling is necessary for accurate and reliable analysis for practical applications. However, excessive computations need to be avoided and heuristics have to be used for real-world problems. This paper presents the heuristics-mathematical modelling of loading problem with machine processing time as primary input. The aim of the present work is to solve a real-world machine loading problem with an objective of balancing the workload of the FMS with decreased computational time. A Matlab code is developed for the solution and the results are found most accurate and reliable as presented in the paper.

Cryogenic Fiber Optic Assemblies for Spaceflight Environments: Design, Manufacturing, Testing, and Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Thomes, W. Joe; Ott, Melanie N.; Chuska, Richard; Switzer, Robert; Onuma, Eleanya; Blair, Diana; Frese, Erich; Matyseck, Marc

2016-01-01

Fiber optic assemblies have been used on spaceflight missions for many years as an enabling technology for routing, transmitting, and detecting optical signals. Due to the overwhelming success of NASA in implementing fiber optic assemblies on spaceflight science-based instruments, system scientists increasingly request fibers that perform in extreme environments while still maintaining very high optical transmission, stability, and reliability. Many new applications require fiber optic assemblies that will operate down to cryogenic temperatures as low as 20 Kelvin. In order for the fiber assemblies to operate with little loss in optical throughput at these extreme temperatures requires a system level approach all the way from how the fiber assembly is manufactured to how it is held, routed, and integrated. The NASA Goddard Code 562 Photonics Group has been designing, manufacturing, testing, and integrating fiber optics for spaceflight and other high reliability applications for nearly 20 years. Design techniques and lessons learned over the years are consistently applied to developing new fiber optic assemblies that meet these demanding environments. System level trades, fiber assembly design methods, manufacturing, testing, and integration will be discussed. Specific recent examples of ground support equipment for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST); the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2); and others will be included.

Manufacturing a Micro-model with Integrated Fibre Optic Pressure Sensors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zarikos, I.; Hassanizadeh, S.M.; van Oosterhout, L.M.; van Oordt, Wim

The measurement of fluid pressure inside pores is a major challenge in experimental studies of two-phase flow in porous media. In this paper, we describe the manufacturing procedure of a micro-model with integrated fibre optic pressure sensors. They have a circular measurement window with a diameter

The Social Dimension of Computer-Integrated Manufacturing: An Extended Comment.

Science.gov (United States)

Badham, Richard J.

1991-01-01

The effect of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) on working conditions depends on the way in which the technologies are designed to fit operator requirements, work organization, and organizational objectives. Recent attempts to promote skill-based human-centered approaches to CIM design are aimed at introducing humane working conditions…

Integrated digital printing of flexible circuits for wireless sensing (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Mei, Ping; Whiting, Gregory L.; Schwartz, David E.; Ng, Tse Nga; Krusor, Brent S.; Ready, Steve E.; Daniel, George; Veres, Janos; Street, Bob

2016-09-01

Wireless sensing has broad applications in a wide variety of fields such as infrastructure monitoring, chemistry, environmental engineering and cold supply chain management. Further development of sensing systems will focus on achieving light weight, flexibility, low power consumption and low cost. Fully printed electronics provide excellent flexibility and customizability, as well as the potential for low cost and large area applications, but lack solutions for high-density, high-performance circuitry. Conventional electronics mounted on flexible printed circuit boards provide high performance but are not digitally fabricated or readily customizable. Incorporation of small silicon dies or packaged chips into a printed platform enables high performance without compromising flexibility or cost. At PARC, we combine high functionality c-Si CMOS and digitally printed components and interconnects to create an integrated platform that can read and process multiple discrete sensors. Our approach facilitates customization to a wide variety of sensors and user interfaces suitable for a broad range of applications including remote monitoring of health, structures and environment. This talk will describe several examples of printed wireless sensing systems. The technologies required for these sensor systems are a mix of novel sensors, printing processes, conventional microchips, flexible substrates and energy harvesting power solutions.

Advanced Manufacturing Technology Adoption In SMEs: An Integrative Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirmahdi Darbanhosseiniamirkhiz

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to assess the critical factors which influence adoption of  Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs and identify hurdles and barriers which prevent small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs from accomplishing the desired goals of AMTs utilization. The proposed framework has synthesized previous studies and integrated related studies through conducting a comprehensive literature review. This paper is a theoretical construction that synthesizes previous studies, and centers on three context (Environmental, Organizational, and Technological which influence  adoption of AMTs. This model can provide managers with practical solutions through granting in-depth understanding of whole internal, external, and technological environments, and awarding empirical insight into overcoming barriers to the adoption and implementation of AMT and other process innovations in manufacturing organizations.

European market integration for gas? Volume flexibility and political risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asche, Frank; Tveteras, Ragnar; Osmundsen, Petter

2002-01-01

Long-term take-or-pay contracts regulating gas exports to the Continent are described and analyzed. We thereafter examine whether the German gas market is integrated. Time series of Norwegian, Dutch and Russian gas export prices to Germany in 1990-1998 are examined. Cointegration tests show that that the different border prices for gas to Germany move proportionally over time, indicating an integrated gas market. We find differences in mean prices, with Russian gas being sold at prices systematically lower than Dutch and Norwegian gas. Among the explanatory factors for price discrepancies are differences in volume flexibility (swing) and perceived political risk

An integrated approach to inventory and flexible capacity management subject to fixed costs and non-stationary stochastic demand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tan, T.; Alp, O.

2009-01-01

In a manufacturing system with flexible capacity, inventory management can be coupled with capacity management in order to handle fluctuations in demand more effectively. Typical examples include the effective use of temporary workforce and overtime production. In this paper, we discuss an

Evolutionary approaches for scheduling a flexible manufacturing system with automated guided vehicles and robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramaraj Natarajan

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the scheduling of machines, an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV and two robots in a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS formed in three loop layouts, with objectives to minimize the makespan, mean flow time and mean tardiness. The scheduling optimization is carried out using Sheep Flock Heredity Algorithm (SFHA and Artificial Immune System (AIS algorithm. AGV is used for carrying jobs between the Load/Unload station and the machines. The robots are used for loading and unloading the jobs in the machines, and also used for transferring jobs between the machines. The algorithms are applied for test problems taken from the literature and the results obtained using the two algorithms are compared. The results indicate that SFHA performs better than AIS for this problem.

Integral Ring Carbon-Carbon Piston

Science.gov (United States)

Northam, G. Burton (Inventor)

1999-01-01

An improved structure for a reciprocating internal combustion engine or compressor piston fabricate from carbon-carbon composite materials is disclosed. An integral ring carbon-carbon composite piston, disclosed herein, reduces the need for piston rings and for small clearances by providing a small flexible, integral component around the piston that allows for variation in clearance due to manufacturing tolerances, distortion due to pressure and thermal loads, and variations in thermal expansion differences between the piston and cylinder liner.

Bringing service design to manufacturing companies: integrating PSS and service design approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Costa, Nina; Patrício, Lia; Morelli, Nicola

2018-01-01

in a manufacturing industry. This paper details how the application supports the design of product–service system solutions from the exploration to the implementation stages, highlighting the physical evidence of service, and contributes to advance design research at the intersection of PSS and Service Design.......Manufacturing companies increasingly try to innovate in their offers to consumers by creating more complete solutions that combine product and service components. However, shifting from a product-centric perspective to a solution-oriented perspective is challenging. The present study adopted...... a design research methodology and built on Service-Dominant logic, integrating the human-oriented perspective of Service Design with an organizational network-oriented perspective of Product–Service System. It creates a new Integrative PSS approach, evolves design models, and provides an application...

High energy beam manufacturing technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geskin, E.S.; Leu, M.C.

1989-01-01

Technological progress continues to enable us to utilize ever widening ranges of physical and chemical conditions for material processing. The increasing cost of energy, raw materials and environmental control make implementation of advanced technologies inevitable. One of the principal avenues in the development of material processing is the increase of the intensity, accuracy, flexibility and stability of energy flow to the processing site. The use of different forms of energy beams is an effective way to meet these sometimes incompatible requirements. The first important technological applications of high energy beams were welding and flame cutting. Subsequently a number of different kinds of beams have been used to solve different problems of part geometry control and improvement of surface characteristics. Properties and applications of different specific beams were subjects of a number of fundamental studies. It is important now to develop a generic theory of beam based manufacturing. The creation of a theory dealing with general principles of beam generation and beam-material interaction will enhance manufacturing science as well as practice. For example, such a theory will provide a format approach for selection and integration of different kinds of beams for a particular application. And obviously, this theory will enable us to integrate the knowledge bases of different manufacturing technologies. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, as well as a number of more technical, although less exciting, publications demonstrate both the feasibility and effectiveness of the generic approach to the description of beam oriented technology. Without any attempt to compete with Wells, we still hope that this volume will contribute to the creation of the theory of beam oriented manufacturing

Flexible MEMS: A novel technology to fabricate flexible sensors and electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Hongen

This dissertation presents the design and fabrication techniques used to fabricate flexible MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) devices. MEMS devices and CMOS(Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) circuits are traditionally fabricated on rigid substrates with inorganic semiconductor materials such as Silicon. However, it is highly desirable that functional elements like sensors, actuators or micro fluidic components to be fabricated on flexible substrates for a wide variety of applications. Due to the fact that flexible substrate is temperature sensitive, typically only low temperature materials, such as polymers, metals, and organic semiconductor materials, can be directly fabricated on flexible substrates. A novel technology based on XeF2(xenon difluoride) isotropic silicon etching and parylene conformal coating, which is able to monolithically incorporate high temperature materials and fluidic channels, was developed at Wayne State University. The technology was first implemented in the development of out-of-plane parylene microneedle arrays that can be individually addressed by integrated flexible micro-channels. These devices enable the delivery of chemicals with controlled temporal and spatial patterns and allow us to study neurotransmitter-based retinal prosthesis. The technology was further explored by adopting the conventional SOI-CMOS processes. High performance and high density CMOS circuits can be first fabricated on SOI wafers, and then be integrated into flexible substrates. Flexible p-channel MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistors) were successfully integrated and tested. Integration of pressure sensors and flow sensors based on single crystal silicon has also been demonstrated. A novel smart yarn technology that enables the invisible integration of sensors and electronics into fabrics has been developed. The most significant advantage of this technology is its post-MEMS and post-CMOS compatibility. Various high

A Web-Based Integration Procedure for the Development of Reconfigurable Robotic Work-Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Ferreira

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Concepts related to the development of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS and methodologies to provide the best practices in the processing industry and factory automation, such as system integration and web-based technology, are major issues in designing next-generation manufacturing systems (NGMS. Adaptable and integrable devices are crucial for the success of NGMS. In robotic cells the integration of manufacturing components is essential to accelerate system adaptability. Sensors, control architectures and communication technologies have contributed to achieving further agility in reconfigurable factories. In this work a web-based robotic cell integration procedure is proposed to aid the identification of reconfigurable issues and requirements. This methodology is applied to an industrial robot manipulator to enhance system flexibility towards the development of a reconfigurable robotic platform.

Labour flexibility in China's companies: An Empirical Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Y. Chen (Yongping)

2001-01-01

textabstractLabour flexibility in China???s Companies: An Empirical Study explores labour flexibility at the workplace in ten manufacturing companies in China. It addresses how HRM contributes and facilitates management in coping with increasing market competition. Flexible labour practices are

A cloud-based production system for information and service integration: an internet of things case study on waste electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xi Vincent; Wang, Lihui

2017-08-01

Cloud computing is the new enabling technology that offers centralised computing, flexible data storage and scalable services. In the manufacturing context, it is possible to utilise the Cloud technology to integrate and provide industrial resources and capabilities in terms of Cloud services. In this paper, a function block-based integration mechanism is developed to connect various types of production resources. A Cloud-based architecture is also deployed to offer a service pool which maintains these resources as production services. The proposed system provides a flexible and integrated information environment for the Cloud-based production system. As a specific type of manufacturing, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) remanufacturing experiences difficulties in system integration, information exchange and resource management. In this research, WEEE is selected as the example of Internet of Things to demonstrate how the obstacles and bottlenecks are overcome with the help of Cloud-based informatics approach. In the case studies, the WEEE recycle/recovery capabilities are also integrated and deployed as flexible Cloud services. Supporting mechanisms and technologies are presented and evaluated towards the end of the paper.

Transforming nanomedicine manufacturing toward Quality by Design and microfluidics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Colombo, Stefano; Beck-Broichsitter, Moritz; Bøtker, Johan Peter

2018-01-01

-oriented manufacturing of pharmaceuticals has undergone an unprecedented change toward process and product development interaction. In this context, Quality by Design (QbD) aims to integrate product and process development resulting in an increased number of product applications to regulatory agencies and stronger...... proprietary defense strategies of process-based products. Although QbD can be applied to essentially any production approach, microfluidic production offers particular opportunities for QbD-based manufacturing of nanopharmaceuticals. Microfluidics provides unique design flexibility, process control...... and parameter predictability, and also offers ample opportunities for modular production setups, allowing process feedback for continuously operating production and process control. The present review aims at outlining emerging opportunities in the synergistic implementation of QbD strategies and microfluidic...

An Integrated Environment for Batch Process Development - From Recipe to Manufacture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Batch process development involves the process of converting a chemical synthesis into an optimum, safe, robust, and economical process for manufacturing the chemical of desired quality at the ultimate desired scale. In this paper we describe a strategy for developing a set of integrated decision...

The Flexibility of Organization and the flexibility of product – premises of organizational success

OpenAIRE

Todorut, Amalia Venera

2008-01-01

Flexibility represents the ability of a manufactural system to adapt to some diversified tasks of production, thus to assure an economic efficiency – the rapport time/cost should be optimum, with insignificant structure changes within a long period of time. The central role of flexibility is to permit the survival and the success of the organizations in a turbulent circumstance, which is characteristic to the new world tendencies. The more flexible the organization becomes, the better it resp...

Using structural equation modelling to integrate human resources with internal practices for lean manufacturing implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Protik Basu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore and integrate the role of human resources with the internal practices of the Indian manufacturing industries towards successful implementation of lean manu-facturing (LM. An extensive literature survey is carried out. An attempt is made to build an ex-haustive list of all the input manifests related to human resources and internal practices necessary for LM implementation, coupled with a similar exhaustive list of the benefits accrued from its suc-cessful implementation. A structural model is thus conceptualized, which is empirically validated based on the data from the Indian manufacturing sector. Hardly any survey based empirical study in India has been found to integrate human resources with the internal processes towards success-ful LM implementation. This empirical research is thus carried out in the Indian manufacturing in-dustries. The analysis reveals six key input constructs and three output constructs, indicating that these constructs should act in unison to maximize the benefits of implementing lean. The structural model presented in this paper may be treated as a guide to integrate human resources with internal practices to successfully implement lean, leading to an optimum utilization of resources. This work is one of the very first researches to have a survey-based empirical analysis of the role of human resources and internal practices of the Indian manufacturing sector towards an effective lean im-plementation.

Flexible PCPDTBT:PCBM solar cells with integrated grating structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oliveira Hansen, Roana Melina de; Liu, Yinghui; Madsen, Morten

2013-01-01

We report on development of flexible PCPDTBT:PCBM solar cells with integrated diffraction gratings on the bottom electrodes. The presented results address PCPDTBT:PCBM solar cells in an inverted geometry, which contains implemented grating structures whose pitch is tuned to match the absorption...... spectra of the active layer. This optimized solar cell structure leads to an enhanced absorption in the active layer and thus improved short-circuit currents and power conversion efficiencies in the fabricated devices. Fabrication of the solar cells on thin polyimide substrates which are compatible...

Integrated engineering increases flexibility. [At BNFL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Ray [British Nuclear Fuels plc, London (UK)

1991-05-01

Integrated Engineering (IE) can be used to describe the best use of increasingly rare good engineering talent in an increasingly competive world. A number of organisations are now moving towards IE without any general agreement on a precise definition. The engineering division of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is one such organisation. This feature covers the reasoning behind the decision, and our experience to date. BNFL engineering division is responsible primarily for the provision of major facilities on BNFL operational sites. This provision includes feasibility, front end and detailed design, procurement, installation and commissioning. Task force working has been used for some of the large projects. But the future workload is expected to comprise many more smaller projects. At the same time, equipment is becoming more complex and the need for mutual understanding and appreciation between disciplines is increasing. To meet this increasing need for flexibility, BNFL has decided to move to the matrix structure of project management and functional departments described in the article. (Author).

Optical fiber sensors embedded in flexible polymer foils

Science.gov (United States)

van Hoe, Bram; van Steenberge, Geert; Bosman, Erwin; Missinne, Jeroen; Geernaert, Thomas; Berghmans, Francis; Webb, David; van Daele, Peter

2010-04-01

In traditional electrical sensing applications, multiplexing and interconnecting the different sensing elements is a major challenge. Recently, many optical alternatives have been investigated including optical fiber sensors of which the sensing elements consist of fiber Bragg gratings. Different sensing points can be integrated in one optical fiber solving the interconnection problem and avoiding any electromagnetical interference (EMI). Many new sensing applications also require flexible or stretchable sensing foils which can be attached to or wrapped around irregularly shaped objects such as robot fingers and car bumpers or which can even be applied in biomedical applications where a sensor is fixed on a human body. The use of these optical sensors however always implies the use of a light-source, detectors and electronic circuitry to be coupled and integrated with these sensors. The coupling of these fibers with these light sources and detectors is a critical packaging problem and as it is well-known the costs for packaging, especially with optoelectronic components and fiber alignment issues are huge. The end goal of this embedded sensor is to create a flexible optical sensor integrated with (opto)electronic modules and control circuitry. To obtain this flexibility, one can embed the optical sensors and the driving optoelectronics in a stretchable polymer host material. In this article different embedding techniques for optical fiber sensors are described and characterized. Initial tests based on standard manufacturing processes such as molding and laser structuring are reported as well as a more advanced embedding technique based on soft lithography processing.

Discussion on Manufacturing and Services Integration Based on E-Commerce Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Jinfa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The integration of manufacturing and services is the key to adapt to the inevitable requirement of the revolution of the development of a new round of mobile Internet industry. They are also the key and trend of the next period to enhance the quality and efficiency of Chinese’s manufacturing industry to release potential services development fully, and cultivate new economic growth point.Meanwhile it makes it more effective than before.The enterprises can publicize their own values as well as collect and deal with consumer feedback of the product experience more effectively.And then,it can grasp the market trends and adapt to developping world more quickly.

Problems in manufacturing and transport of pressure vessels of integral reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kralovec, J.

1997-01-01

Integral water-cooled reactors are typical with eliminating large-diameter primary pipes and placing primary components, i.e. steam generators and pressurizers in reactor vessels. This arrangement leads to reactor pressure vessels of large dimensions: diameters, heights and thick walls and subsequently to great weights. Thus, even medium power units have pressure vessels which are on the very limit of present manufacturing capabilities. Principal manufacturing and inspection operations as well as pertinent equipment are concerned: welding, cladding, heat treatment, machining, shop-handling, non-destructive testing, hydraulic pressure tests etc. Tile transport of such a large and heavy component makes a problem which effects its design as well as the selection of the plant site. Railway, road and ship are possible ways of transport each of them having its advantages and limitations. Specific features and limits of the manufacture and transport of large pressure vessels are discussed in the paper. (author)

Application of contemporary integrated manufacture systems to nuclear power plants management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Gang; Wang Lushuai; Tang Yaoyang

2005-01-01

In order to improve the safety, economy and reliability of the operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP), a novel integrated management method is proposed based on the 'integration' concept of the computer and contemporary integrated manufacture systems (CIMS). The design of integrated management system for NPP is studied. In the design of this system, information integration method based on the database and product data management (PDM) technology is adopted. In order to design and integrated management system satisfying the needs of NPP management, all activities of NPP are divided into different categories according to its characteristics. There are subsystems under the general management system to conduct the management work of different categories. All subsystems are interrelated in the environment of CIMS, but relatively independent. The application of CIMS to NPP provides a new way for scientific management of NPP, and makes the best of human, material and information resources. (authors)

Flexible operation of thermal plants with integrated energy storage technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Koytsoumpa, Efthymia Ioanna; Bergins, Christian; Kakaras, Emmanouil

2017-08-01

The energy system in the EU requires today as well as towards 2030 to 2050 significant amounts of thermal power plants in combination with the continuously increasing share of Renewables Energy Sources (RES) to assure the grid stability and to secure electricity supply as well as to provide heat. The operation of the conventional fleet should be harmonised with the fluctuating renewable energy sources and their intermittent electricity production. Flexible thermal plants should be able to reach their lowest minimum load capabilities while keeping the efficiency drop moderate as well as to increase their ramp up and down rates. A novel approach for integrating energy storage as an evolutionary measure to overcome many of the challenges, which arise from increasing RES and balancing with thermal power is presented. Energy storage technologies such as Power to Fuel, Liquid Air Energy Storage and Batteries are investigated in conjunction with flexible power plants.

Industrial Fuel Flexibility Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2006-09-01

On September 28, 2006, in Washington, DC, ITP and Booz Allen Hamilton conducted a fuel flexibility workshop with attendance from various stakeholder groups. Workshop participants included representatives from the petrochemical, refining, food and beverage, steel and metals, pulp and paper, cement and glass manufacturing industries; as well as representatives from industrial boiler manufacturers, technology providers, energy and waste service providers, the federal government and national laboratories, and developers and financiers.

Strengthening the Competitiveness and Sustainability of a Semiconductor Manufacturer with Cloud Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toly Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cloud manufacturing (CMfg is a new-generation service-oriented networked manufacturing model that provides distributed users centralized managed manufacturing resources, ability, and services. CMfg is applied here to a semiconductor manufacturing factory. Benefits are classified into five aspects: cost savings, efficiency, additional data analysis capabilities, flexibility, and closer partner relationships. A strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT analysis is done which guides a semiconductor manufacturer in planning CMfg implementation projects. Simulation of a wafer fabrication factory (wafer fab is used as an example. Several CMfg services are proposed for assisting the fab simulation activities through the collaboration of cloud service providers, software vendors, equipment suppliers, and the wafer fab. The connection with the competitiveness and sustainability of a wafer fab is also stressed.

Opportunities and realities of supply chain integration : the case of food manufacturers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Donk, Dirk Pieter; Akkerman, Renzo; van der Vaart, Taco

2008-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to investigate the limitations and barriers for supply chain integration that food manufacturers experience and to highlight their planning and scheduling problems. Possible ways to cope with these are offered. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is

Flexibility in the context of intelligent plant's development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Augusto Pereira

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Globalization and competition among companies bring changes in the product development, reducing increasingly its life's cycle. Corporations are opting to world-wide products platforms, with global strategies. Besides the wider vision about corporative strategies, dynamic markets and strong competition are impacting in the medium and short term companies' demands. All these characteristics create turbulences in the organizations, but they can also convey opportunities. In order to take strategic advantage in this process, companies ought to innovate, changing the manner of planning and operating its plants. One possibility to achieve these goals is using flexibility in the manufacture. In this paper, flexibility aspects will be addressed in context of band, reply and dimension, and, how companies can apply this benefit to get better design in their plants and manufacture process, and eliminate waste. Key-words: Flexibility, Toyota Production System, Lean Manufacturing, Intelligent Plants, Wastes’ elimination.

Optimizing production and imperfect preventive maintenance planning's integration in failure-prone manufacturing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghezzaf, El-Houssaine; Khatab, Abdelhakim; Tam, Phuoc Le

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the issue of integrating production and maintenance planning in a failure-prone manufacturing system. It is assumed that the system's operating state is stochastically predictable, in terms of its operating age, and that it can accordingly be preventively maintained during preplanned periods. Preventive maintenance is assumed to be imperfect, that is when performed, it brings the manufacturing system to an operating state that lies between ‘as bad as old’ and ‘as good as new’. Only an overhauling of the system brings it to a ‘as good as new’ operating state again. A practical integrated production and preventive maintenance planning model, that takes into account the system's manufacturing capacity and its operational reliability state, is developed. The model is naturally formulated as a mixed-integer non-linear optimization problem, for which an extended mixed-integer linear reformulation is proposed. This reformulation, while it solves the proposed integrated planning problem to optimality, remains quite demanding in terms of computational time. A fix-and-optimize procedure, that takes advantage of some properties of the original model, is then proposed. The reformulation and the fix-and-optimize procedure are tested on some test instances adapted from those available in the literature. The results show that the proposed fix-and-optimize procedure performs quite well and opens new research direction for future improvements. - Highlights: • Integration of production planning and imperfect preventive maintenance is explored. • Imperfect maintenance is modeled using a fitting age reduction hybrid hazard rate. • A practical approximate optimization model for this integration is proposed. • The resulting naturally MINL optimization model is reformulated and solved as a MILP. • An effective fix-and-optimize procedure is proposed for large instances of this MILP.

Community biomass handbook volume 4: enterprise development for integrated wood manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Eini Lowell; D.R. Becker; D. Smith; M. Kauffman; D. Bihn

2017-01-01

The Community Biomass Handbook Volume 4: Enterprise Development for Integrated Wood Manufacturing is a guide for creating sustainable business enterprises using small diameter logs and biomass. This fourth volume is a companion to three Community Biomass Handbook volumes: Volume 1: Thermal Wood Energy; Volume 2: Alaska, Where Woody Biomass Can Work; and Volume 3: How...

A flexible and portable powerpack by solid-state supercapacitor and dye-sensitized solar cell integration

Science.gov (United States)

Scalia, Alberto; Bella, Federico; Lamberti, Andrea; Bianco, Stefano; Gerbaldi, Claudio; Tresso, Elena; Pirri, Candido Fabrizio

2017-08-01

The recent need to benefit from electricity in every moment of daily life, particularly when the access to the electric grid is limited, is forcing the scientific and industrial community to an intensive effort towards the production of integrated energy harvesting and storage devices able to drive low power electronics. In this framework, flexibility represents a mandatory requirement to cover non-planar or bendable surfaces, more and more common in nowadays-electronic devices. To this purpose, here we present an innovative device consisting of a TiO2 nanotube-based dye sensitized solar cell and a graphene-based electrical double layer capacitor integrated in a flexible architecture. Both the units are obtained by easily scalable fabrication processes exploiting photopolymer membranes as electrolytes and metal grids as current collectors. The performance of the two units and of the integrated system are thoroughly investigated by electrochemical measurements also under different irradiation conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this work shows the highest energy conversion and storage efficiency (1.02%) ever attained under 1 Sun irradiation condition for a flexible dye-sensitized-based non-wired photocapacitor. Noteworthy, this value dramatically increases while lowering the illumination condition to 0.3 Sun, achieving a remarkable value of 1.46%, thus showing optimal performances in real operation conditions.

PROSPECTS FOR APPLICATION OF FLEXIBLE ULTRASONIC WAVEGUIDE SYSTEMS IN MEDICINE AND ENGINEERING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. T. Minchenya

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents comprehensive review of current and possible future applications of flexible ultrasonic waveguides in medicine and engineering. Issues of design, modelling and manufacturing of flexible waveguides are considered. The article also presents some results of the authors in this field, particularly modelling techniques developed for the design of flexible waveguides and ultrasonic technologies and equipment for ultrasonic thromboectomy, heating of frozen fuel and ultrasonic drilling of brittle materials. Novel technology for manufacturing flexible waveguides based on electrolytic-plasma machining is also described

THE FLEXIBILITY-AUTOMATION CORRESPONDENCE TO A VIRTUAL COMMERCIAL SOCIETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liliana Doble

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Design and operation of FMS is based on system requirement can be as productive and flexible as necessary, i.e. obtaining controlled correspondence between the degree of flexibility and automation of system.The flexibility of a FMS (Flexible Manufacturing Systems is determined by two important criteria: Flexible hardware structure of the system; Flexible software structure. Flexible hardware structure of the CS system (calculation system is determined to its turn according to three components: Flexibility of technological subsystem; Flexibility subsystem of storage, transport and handling;Flexibility of informational subsystem.

49 CFR 178.710 - Standards for flexible IBCs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... used in the manufacture of the tested design type, retesting may be omitted if the carbon black content... material. (6) No used material other than production residues or regrind from the same manufacturing process may be used in the manufacture of plastic flexible IBCs. This does not preclude the re-use of...

Open manufacturing system using MMS service and object oriented manufacturing equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Dong Hoon; Song, Jun Yeob; Kim, Sun Ho

2007-01-01

Manufacturing equipment should be integrated to construct CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) environment, but several economical and technological difficulties may be arisen in case heterogeneous systems are integrated into each other. MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) can be effective in such a case, but the problem is that MMS-related products are comparatively expensive and the existing manufacturing equipment mostly do not support MMS. This study was focused on developing a gateway suitable to a non-MMS-compatible CNC machine-tool, and on implementing OSI (Open System Interconnection) upper layer on TCP/IP. The development system was applied to a cell controller by means of heterogeneous equipment under CIM environment, and to evaluate interoperability and portability

A New Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Bacterial Evolution and Its Application for Scheduling A Flexible Manufacturing System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chandramouli Anandaraman

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A new evolutionary computation algorithm, Superbug algorithm, which simulates evolution of bacteria in a culture, is proposed. The algorithm is developed for solving large scale optimization problems such as scheduling, transportation and assignment problems. In this work, the algorithm optimizes machine schedules in a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS by minimizing makespan. The FMS comprises of four machines and two identical Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs. AGVs are used for carrying jobs between the Load/Unload (L/U station and the machines. Experimental results indicate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in its optimization performance in scheduling is noticeably superior to other evolutionary algorithms when compared to the best results reported in the literature for FMS Scheduling.

Flexibilidade de manufatura na indústria eletroeletrônica: percepção gerencial e aplicação Manufacturing flexibility in the consumer electronics industry: managerial perception and application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo R. T. Dalcol

1998-04-01

Full Text Available As empresas estão crescentemente percebendo a flexibilidade como uma estratégia para alcançar vantagem competitiva na manufatura. Este artigo visa fornecer conhecimentos recentes de como empresas da indústria eletroeletrônica estão lidando com a questão da flexibilidade. São apresentados e analisados alguns dos resultados mais relevantes da investigação empírica dos autores sobre manufatura de resposta rápida em 16 empresas líderes em 5 estados brasileiros, incluindo multinacionais. A pesquisa examina a percepção gerencial da importância das estratégias de flexibilidade. Ela também explora como essas empresas estão utilizando industrialmente conceitos e técnicas que melhoram a flexibilidade de manufatura da firma, em termos de freqüência de mudança e variedade de produtos.Companies are increasingly focusing on flexibility as a way to achieve competitive advantage in manufacturing. This paper aims at providing fresh insights on how consumer electronics companies are dealing with the flexibility issue. It presents and analyses some of the most relevant results of the authors' empirical investigation into rapid response manufacturing in 16 leading firms in Brazil, including multinationals. The survey examines the managers' perception of the importance of flexibility strategies. It also explores how these companies are applying concepts and techniques that improve the manufacturing flexibility of the firm, in terms of changeover frequency and range of products.

Developing a Framework for E-Manufacturing Based on Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Xi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the current situation of business environment and business intelligence systems integration at first. With emerging applications of internet and wireless communication technologies, e-manufacturing is focused on the use of internet, monitoring and communications technologies to make things happen collaboratively on a global basis. A wireless sensor network based data acquisition system gives enormous benefits such as ease and flexibility of deployment in addition to low maintenance and deployment costs. This paper reviews wireless sensor network and its application for e-manufacturing. To provide a dependable, non-intrusive, secure, real-time automated health monitoring, a distributed reconfigurable sensor network is introduced which consists of real and virtual sensor nodes over a communication wireless sensor network using Mica2 motes.

Development of flexible, free-standing, thin films for additive manufacturing and localized energy generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clark, Billy; McCollum, Jena; Pantoya, Michelle L., E-mail: michelle.pantoya@ttu.edu [Mechanical Engineering Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX 79409 (United States); Heaps, Ronald J.; Daniels, Michael A. [Idaho National Laboratory, PO Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States)

2015-08-15

Film energetics are becoming increasingly popular because a variety of technologies are driving a need for localized energy generation in a stable, safe and flexible form. Aluminum (Al) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO{sub 3}) composites were mixed into a silicon binder and extruded using a blade casting technique to form flexible free-standing films ideal for localized energy generation. Since this material can be extruded onto a surface it is well suited to additive manufacturing applications. This study examines the influence of 0-35% by mass potassium perchlorate (KClO{sub 4}) additive on the combustion behavior of these energetic films. Without KClO{sub 4} the film exhibits thermal instabilities that produce unsteady energy propagation upon reaction. All films were cast at a thickness of 1 mm with constant volume percent solids to ensure consistent rheological properties. The films were ignited and flame propagation was measured. The results show that as the mass percent KClO{sub 4} increased, the flame speed increased and peaked at 0.43 cm/s and 30 wt% KClO{sub 4}. Thermochemical equilibrium simulations show that the heat of combustion increases with increasing KClO{sub 4} concentration up to a maximum at 20 wt% when the heat of combustion plateaus, indicating that the increased chemical energy liberated by the additional KClO{sub 4} promotes stable energy propagation. Differential scanning calorimeter and thermogravimetric analysis show that the silicone binder participates as a fuel and reacts with KClO{sub 4} adding energy to the reaction and promoting propagation.

Development of flexible, free-standing, thin films for additive manufacturing and localized energy generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Billy Clark

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Film energetics are becoming increasingly popular because a variety of technologies are driving a need for localized energy generation in a stable, safe and flexible form. Aluminum (Al and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3 composites were mixed into a silicon binder and extruded using a blade casting technique to form flexible free-standing films ideal for localized energy generation. Since this material can be extruded onto a surface it is well suited to additive manufacturing applications. This study examines the influence of 0-35% by mass potassium perchlorate (KClO4 additive on the combustion behavior of these energetic films. Without KClO4 the film exhibits thermal instabilities that produce unsteady energy propagation upon reaction. All films were cast at a thickness of 1 mm with constant volume percent solids to ensure consistent rheological properties. The films were ignited and flame propagation was measured. The results show that as the mass percent KClO4 increased, the flame speed increased and peaked at 0.43 cm/s and 30 wt% KClO4. Thermochemical equilibrium simulations show that the heat of combustion increases with increasing KClO4 concentration up to a maximum at 20 wt% when the heat of combustion plateaus, indicating that the increased chemical energy liberated by the additional KClO4 promotes stable energy propagation. Differential scanning calorimeter and thermogravimetric analysis show that the silicone binder participates as a fuel and reacts with KClO4 adding energy to the reaction and promoting propagation.

Fully Printed Flexible Single-Chip RFID Tag with Light Detection Capabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aniello Falco

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A printed passive radiofrequency identification (RFID tag in the ultra-high frequency band for light and temperature monitoring is presented. The whole tag has been manufactured by printing techniques on a flexible substrate. Antenna and interconnects are realized with silver nanoparticles via inkjet printing. A sprayed photodetector performs the light monitoring, whereas temperature measurement comes from an in-built sensor in the silicon RFID chip. One of the advantages of this system is the digital read-out and transmission of the sensors information on the RFID tag that ensures reliability. Furthermore, the use of printing techniques allows large-scale manufacturing and the direct fabrication of the tag on the desired surface. This work proves for the first time the feasibility of the embedment of large-scale organic photodetectors onto inkjet printed RFID tags. Here, we solve the problem of integration of different manufacturing techniques to develop an optimal final sensor system.

Control of a flexible bracing manipulator: Integration of current research work to realize the bracing manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Dong-Soo

1991-01-01

All research results about flexible manipulator control were integrated to show a control scenario of a bracing manipulator. First, dynamic analysis of a flexible manipulator was done for modeling. Second, from the dynamic model, the inverse dynamic equation was derived, and the time domain inverse dynamic method was proposed for the calculation of the feedforward torque and the desired flexible coordinate trajectories. Third, a tracking controller was designed by combining the inverse dynamic feedforward control with the joint feedback control. The control scheme was applied to the tip position control of a single link flexible manipulator for zero and non-zero initial condition cases. Finally, the contact control scheme was added to the position tracking control. A control scenario of a bracing manipulator is provided and evaluated through simulation and experiment on a single link flexible manipulator.

Performance of simulated flexible integrated gasification polygeneration facilities. Part A: A technical-energetic assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meerman, J.C.; Ramírez Ramírez, C.A.; Turkenburg, W.C.; Faaij, A.P.C.

2011-01-01

This article investigates technical possibilities and performances of flexible integrated gasification polygeneration (IG-PG) facilities equipped with CO2 capture for the near future. These facilities can produce electricity during peak hours, while switching to the production of chemicals during

Toward New-Generation Intelligent Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ji Zhou

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Intelligent manufacturing is a general concept that is under continuous development. It can be categorized into three basic paradigms: digital manufacturing, digital-networked manufacturing, and new-generation intelligent manufacturing. New-generation intelligent manufacturing represents an in-depth integration of new-generation artificial intelligence (AI technology and advanced manufacturing technology. It runs through every link in the full life-cycle of design, production, product, and service. The concept also relates to the optimization and integration of corresponding systems; the continuous improvement of enterprises’ product quality, performance, and service levels; and reduction in resources consumption. New-generation intelligent manufacturing acts as the core driving force of the new industrial revolution and will continue to be the main pathway for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry in the decades to come. Human-cyber-physical systems (HCPSs reveal the technological mechanisms of new-generation intelligent manufacturing and can effectively guide related theoretical research and engineering practice. Given the sequential development, cross interaction, and iterative upgrading characteristics of the three basic paradigms of intelligent manufacturing, a technology roadmap for “parallel promotion and integrated development” should be developed in order to drive forward the intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry in China. Keywords: Advanced manufacturing, New-generation intelligent manufacturing, Human-cyber-physical system, New-generation AI, Basic paradigms, Parallel promotion, Integrated development

An integrated approach for safer, productive and reliable PHWR fuel manufacturing at NFC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saibaba, N.

2013-01-01

India has been pursuing three-stage nuclear power programme and has developed comprehensive capabilities in all aspects of nuclear power and fuel cycle and is now recognized as a country with advanced nuclear technologies in the comity of nations. The first stage of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) based on natural uranium has reached a state of maturity. In view of civilian nuclear safeguards agreement with NSG and IAEA, Nuclear Power Reactors in India and associated fuel manufacturing facilities at Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) are grouped into IAEA safeguarded and out-of-safeguarded facilities. The civilian nuclear energy generation has to be accelerated for achieving energy security for the country. NFC has pioneered manufacturing technologies of UO 2 fuel, fuel clad and structural components for the PHWRs 220, 540 and PHWR700. Nearly 20 GWe of nuclear energy generation is being planned through PHWR route. Several technological improvements that were carried out recently in the production lines are the key to achieve higher productivity and safety. NFC has also been pursuing capacity augmentation by adding newer equipment in the existing facility and setting up new plants both for uranium production as well as zirconium production. Flexible manufacturing systems consisting of automatic workstations and robots were introduced in the 19 and 37 element PHWR fuel assembly lines. Various safety measures were introduced right from design stage for improving radiological safety for workmen. State-of-art equipment were designed, developed and commissioned for reduction/elimination of fatigue-oriented operations. In addition to natural uranium oxide fuel, NFC has also successfully manufactured virgin slightly enriched uranium (SEU) fuel and reprocessed depleted uranium fuels which were irradiated in the operating PHWRs. The paper brings out NFC's role in Indian nuclear power program and its manufacturing capabilities for types of PHWR fuel, zircaloy structural

Development of a modular integrated control architecture for flexible manipulators. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burks, B.L.; Battiston, G.

1994-01-01

In April 1994, ORNL and SPAR completed the joint development of a manipulator controls architecture for flexible structure controls under a CRADA between the two organizations. The CRADA project entailed design and development of a new architecture based upon the Modular Integrated Control Architecture (MICA) previously developed by ORNL. The new architecture, dubbed MICA-II, uses an object-oriented coding philosophy to provide a highly modular and expandable architecture for robotic manipulator control. This architecture can be readily ported to control of many different manipulator systems. The controller also provides a user friendly graphical operator interface and display of many forms of data including system diagnostics. The capabilities of MICA-II were demonstrated during oscillation damping experiments using the Flexible Beam Experimental Test Bed at Hanford

MEDICIÓN DE LA FLEXIBILIDAD EN MANUFACTURA MEDIÇÃO DA FLEXIBILIDADE EM MANUFACTURA MEASURING OF MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo César Manyoma

2011-12-01

Full Text Available En este documento se hace un recorrido por la visión que se ha tenido en los últimos tiempos sobre la flexibilidad en manufactura. En primera instancia, se introduce el tema, estableciendo la base necesaria para entender la importancia de las estrategias empresariales y su impacto en las ventajas competitivas de cualquier organización. Luego se aclara la flexibilidad como estrategia del sistema de producción y la estructura interna que tiene este concepto. Teniendo bien definidos los anteriores elementos, se procede a identificar los tipos de flexibilidad y se muestran indicadores que de una u otra forma dan claridad de cómo puede medirse en los sistemas de producción. Por último, con ejemplos, se muestran claramente los diferentes elementos y algunos métodos de medición, que aportarán en la aplicación del concepto de flexibilidad en la manufactura colombiana.Neste documento faz-se um percurso pela visão que se teve nos últimos tempos sobre a flexibilidade em manufatura. Em primeiro lugar introduz-se ao tema, estabelecendo a base necessária para entender a importância das estratégias empresariais e seu impacto nas vantagens competitivas de qualquer organização. Depois, clarificase a flexibilidade como estratégia do sistema de produção e a estrutura interna que tem este conceito. Tendo bem definidos os anteriores elementos, se procede a identificar os tipos de flexibilidade e mostram-se indicadores que de uma ou outra forma dão clareza de como pode ser medida nos sistemas de produção. Por último, com exemplos, mostram-se claramente os diferentes elementos e alguns métodos de medição, que contribuirão na aplicação do conceito de flexibilidade na manufatura colombiana.This paper provides an overview of the accepted vision in recent times on the issue of flexibility in manufacturing. Firstly, the topic is introduced, establishing the basis for understanding the importance of corporate strategies and their impact on the

Functional integrity of flexible n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors on a reversibly bistable platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alfaraj, Nasir; Hussain, Aftab M.; Torres Sevilla, Galo A.; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Rojas, Jhonathan P.; Hussain, Muhammad M., E-mail: MuhammadMustafa.Hussain@kaust.edu.sa [Integrated Nanotechnology Laboratory, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900 (Saudi Arabia); Aljedaani, Abdulrahman B. [High-Speed Fluids Imaging Laboratory, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900 (Saudi Arabia)

2015-10-26

Flexibility can bring a new dimension to state-of-the-art electronics, such as rollable displays and integrated circuit systems being transformed into more powerful resources. Flexible electronics are typically hosted on polymeric substrates. Such substrates can be bent and rolled up, but cannot be independently fixed at the rigid perpendicular position necessary to realize rollable display-integrated gadgets and electronics. A reversibly bistable material can assume two stable states in a reversible way: flexibly rolled state and independently unbent state. Such materials are used in cycling and biking safety wristbands and a variety of ankle bracelets for orthopedic healthcare. They are often wrapped around an object with high impulsive force loading. Here, we study the effects of cumulative impulsive force loading on thinned (25 μm) flexible silicon-based n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor devices housed on a reversibly bistable flexible platform. We found that the transistors have maintained their high performance level up to an accumulated 180 kN of impact force loading. The gate dielectric layers have maintained their reliability, which is evidenced by the low leakage current densities. Also, we observed low variation in the effective electron mobility values, which manifests that the device channels have maintained their carrier transport properties.

Functional integrity of flexible n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors on a reversibly bistable platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfaraj, Nasir; Hussain, Aftab M.; Torres Sevilla, Galo A.; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Rojas, Jhonathan P.; Hussain, Muhammad M.; Aljedaani, Abdulrahman B.

2015-01-01

Flexibility can bring a new dimension to state-of-the-art electronics, such as rollable displays and integrated circuit systems being transformed into more powerful resources. Flexible electronics are typically hosted on polymeric substrates. Such substrates can be bent and rolled up, but cannot be independently fixed at the rigid perpendicular position necessary to realize rollable display-integrated gadgets and electronics. A reversibly bistable material can assume two stable states in a reversible way: flexibly rolled state and independently unbent state. Such materials are used in cycling and biking safety wristbands and a variety of ankle bracelets for orthopedic healthcare. They are often wrapped around an object with high impulsive force loading. Here, we study the effects of cumulative impulsive force loading on thinned (25 μm) flexible silicon-based n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor devices housed on a reversibly bistable flexible platform. We found that the transistors have maintained their high performance level up to an accumulated 180 kN of impact force loading. The gate dielectric layers have maintained their reliability, which is evidenced by the low leakage current densities. Also, we observed low variation in the effective electron mobility values, which manifests that the device channels have maintained their carrier transport properties

Functional integrity of flexible n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors on a reversibly bistable platform

KAUST Repository

Alfaraj, Nasir; Hussain, Aftab M.; Torres Sevilla, Galo A.; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto; Aljedaani, Abdulrahman B.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2015-01-01

Flexibility can bring a new dimension to state-of-the-art electronics, such as rollable displays and integrated circuit systems being transformed into more powerful resources. Flexible electronics are typically hosted on polymeric substrates. Such substrates can be bent and rolled up, but cannot be independently fixed at the rigid perpendicular position necessary to realize rollable display-integrated gadgets and electronics. A reversibly bistable material can assume two stable states in a reversible way: flexibly rolled state and independently unbent state. Such materials are used in cycling and biking safety wristbands and a variety of ankle bracelets for orthopedic healthcare. They are often wrapped around an object with high impulsive force loading. Here, we study the effects of cumulative impulsive force loading on thinned (25 μm) flexible silicon-based n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor devices housed on a reversibly bistable flexible platform. We found that the transistors have maintained their high performance level up to an accumulated 180 kN of impact force loading. The gate dielectric layers have maintained their reliability, which is evidenced by the low leakage current densities. Also, we observed low variation in the effective electron mobility values, which manifests that the device channels have maintained their carrier transport properties.

Functional integrity of flexible n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors on a reversibly bistable platform

Science.gov (United States)

Alfaraj, Nasir; Hussain, Aftab M.; Torres Sevilla, Galo A.; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Rojas, Jhonathan P.; Aljedaani, Abdulrahman B.; Hussain, Muhammad M.

2015-10-01

Flexibility can bring a new dimension to state-of-the-art electronics, such as rollable displays and integrated circuit systems being transformed into more powerful resources. Flexible electronics are typically hosted on polymeric substrates. Such substrates can be bent and rolled up, but cannot be independently fixed at the rigid perpendicular position necessary to realize rollable display-integrated gadgets and electronics. A reversibly bistable material can assume two stable states in a reversible way: flexibly rolled state and independently unbent state. Such materials are used in cycling and biking safety wristbands and a variety of ankle bracelets for orthopedic healthcare. They are often wrapped around an object with high impulsive force loading. Here, we study the effects of cumulative impulsive force loading on thinned (25 μm) flexible silicon-based n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor devices housed on a reversibly bistable flexible platform. We found that the transistors have maintained their high performance level up to an accumulated 180 kN of impact force loading. The gate dielectric layers have maintained their reliability, which is evidenced by the low leakage current densities. Also, we observed low variation in the effective electron mobility values, which manifests that the device channels have maintained their carrier transport properties.

Proposal of a Methodology for Implementing a Service-Oriented Architecture in Distributed Manufacturing Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, I.; Garcia-Dominguez, A.; Aguayo, F.; Sevilla, L.; Marcos, M.

2009-11-01

As envisioned by Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS), Next Generation Manufacturing Systems (NGMS) will satisfy the needs of an increasingly fast-paced and demanding market by dynamically integrating systems from inside and outside the manufacturing firm itself into a so-called extended enterprise. However, organizing these systems to ensure the maximum flexibility and interoperability with those from other organizations is difficult. Additionally, a defect in the system would have a great impact: it would affect not only its owner, but also its partners. For these reasons, we argue that a service-oriented architecture (SOA) would be a good candidate. It should be designed following a methodology where services play a central role, instead of being an implementation detail. In order for the architecture to be reliable enough as a whole, the methodology will need to help find errors before they arise in a production environment. In this paper we propose using SOA-specific testing techniques, compare some of the existing methodologies and outline several extensions upon one of them to integrate testing techniques.

Manned Mission Space Exploration Utilizing a Flexible Universal Module

Science.gov (United States)

Humphries, P.; Barez, F.; Gowda, A.

2018-02-01

The proposed ASMS, Inc. "Flexible Universal Module" is in support of NASA's Deep Space Gateway project. The Flexible Universal Module provides a possible habitation or manufacturing environment in support of Manned Mission for Space Exploration.

Model Driven Integrated Decision-Making in Manufacturing Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard H. Weston

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Decision making requirements and solutions are observed in four world class Manufacturing Enterprises (MEs. Observations made focus on deployed methods of complexity handling that facilitate multi-purpose, distributed decision making. Also observed are examples of partially deficient “integrated decision making” which stem from lack of understanding about how ME structural relations enable and/or constrain reachable ME behaviours. To begin to address this deficiency the paper outlines the use of a “reference model of ME decision making” which can inform the structural design of decision making systems in MEs. Also outlined is a “systematic model driven approach to modelling ME systems” which can particularise the reference model in specific case enterprises and thereby can “underpin integrated ME decision making”. Coherent decomposition and representational mechanisms have been incorporated into the model driven approach to systemise complexity handling. The paper also describes in outline an application of the modelling method in a case study ME and explains how its use has improved the integration of previously distinct planning functions. The modelling approach is particularly innovative in respect to the way it structures the coherent creation and experimental re-use of “fit for purpose” discrete event (predictive simulation models at the multiple levels of abstraction.

Literature Review on Dynamic Cellular Manufacturing System

Science.gov (United States)

Nouri Houshyar, A.; Leman, Z.; Pakzad Moghadam, H.; Ariffin, M. K. A. M.; Ismail, N.; Iranmanesh, H.

2014-06-01

In previous decades, manufacturers faced a lot of challenges because of globalization and high competition in markets. These problems arise from shortening product life cycle, rapid variation in demand of products, and also rapid changes in manufcaturing technologies. Nowadays most manufacturing companies expend considerable attention for improving flexibility and responsiveness in order to overcome these kinds of problems and also meet customer's needs. By considering the trend toward the shorter product life cycle, the manufacturing environment is towards manufacturing a wide variety of parts in small batches [1]. One of the major techniques which are applied for improving manufacturing competitiveness is Cellular Manufacturing System (CMS). CMS is type of manufacturing system which tries to combine flexibility of job shop and also productivity of flow shop. In addition, Dynamic cellular manufacturing system which considers different time periods for the manufacturing system becomes an important topic and attracts a lot of attention to itself. Therefore, this paper made attempt to have a brief review on this issue and focused on all published paper on this subject. Although, this topic gains a lot of attention to itself during these years, none of previous researchers focused on reviewing the literature of that which can be helpful and useful for other researchers who intend to do the research on this topic. Therefore, this paper is the first study which has focused and reviewed the literature of dynamic cellular manufacturing system.

The application of mechatronic design approach in a reconfigurable manufacturing environment

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Xing, B

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Manufacturing companies are faced with the challenge of unpredictable, high frequency market changes in both local and international markets. Two types of conventional manufacturing system: dedicated manufacturing system (DMS) and flexible...

Manufacturing Demonstration Facility: Roll-to-Roll Processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Datskos, Panos G [ORNL; Joshi, Pooran C [ORNL; List III, Frederick Alyious [ORNL; Duty, Chad E [ORNL; Armstrong, Beth L [ORNL; Ivanov, Ilia N [ORNL; Jacobs, Christopher B [ORNL; Graham, David E [ORNL; Moon, Ji Won [ORNL

2015-08-01

This Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF)e roll-to-roll processing effort described in this report provided an excellent opportunity to investigate a number of advanced manufacturing approaches to achieve a path for low cost devices and sensors. Critical to this effort is the ability to deposit thin films at low temperatures using nanomaterials derived from nanofermentation. The overarching goal of this project was to develop roll-to-roll manufacturing processes of thin film deposition on low-cost flexible substrates for electronics and sensor applications. This project utilized ORNL s unique Pulse Thermal Processing (PTP) technologies coupled with non-vacuum low temperature deposition techniques, ORNL s clean room facility, slot dye coating, drop casting, spin coating, screen printing and several other equipment including a Dimatix ink jet printer and a large-scale Kyocera ink jet printer. The roll-to-roll processing project had three main tasks: 1) develop and demonstrate zinc-Zn based opto-electronic sensors using low cost nanoparticulate structures manufactured in a related MDF Project using nanofermentation techniques, 2) evaluate the use of silver based conductive inks developed by project partner NovaCentrix for electronic device fabrication, and 3) demonstrate a suite of low cost printed sensors developed using non-vacuum deposition techniques which involved the integration of metal and semiconductor layers to establish a diverse sensor platform technology.

Free-world microelectronic manufacturing equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Kilby, J. S.; Arnold, W. H.; Booth, W. T.; Cunningham, J. A.; Hutcheson, J. D.; Owen, R. W.; Runyan, W. R.; McKenney, Barbara L.; McGrain, Moira; Taub, Renee G.

1988-12-01

Equipment is examined and evaluated for the manufacture of microelectronic integrated circuit devices and sources for that equipment within the Free World. Equipment suitable for the following are examined: single-crystal silicon slice manufacturing and processing; required lithographic processes; wafer processing; device packaging; and test of digital integrated circuits. Availability of the equipment is also discussed, now and in the near future. Very adequate equipment for most stages of the integrated circuit manufacturing process is available from several sources, in different countries, although the best and most widely used versions of most manufacturing equipment are made in the United States or Japan. There is also an active market in used equipment, suitable for manufacture of capable integrated circuits with performance somewhat short of the present state of the art.

Silicon photonics integrated circuits: a manufacturing platform for high density, low power optical I/O's.

Science.gov (United States)

Absil, Philippe P; Verheyen, Peter; De Heyn, Peter; Pantouvaki, Marianna; Lepage, Guy; De Coster, Jeroen; Van Campenhout, Joris

2015-04-06

Silicon photonics integrated circuits are considered to enable future computing systems with optical input-outputs co-packaged with CMOS chips to circumvent the limitations of electrical interfaces. In this paper we present the recent progress made to enable dense multiplexing by exploiting the integration advantage of silicon photonics integrated circuits. We also discuss the manufacturability of such circuits, a key factor for a wide adoption of this technology.

Most promising flexible generators for the wind dominated market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vorushylo, I.; Keatley, P.; Hewitt, NJ

2016-01-01

The intermittent nature of wind power and other forms of variable renewable energy requires complementary dispatchable flexible generators in order to guarantee the efficient, reliable and secure operation of electricity systems. The most popular solution to date has been peaking plant, usually in the form of open-cycle-gas- turbines (OCGT). Energy storage technologies have so far been considered too expensive, however technology development, as well as challenging renewable targets could potentially make storage economically viable. Although new advanced flexible combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) have been developed by some manufacturers, they have not yet been investigated in electricity market models. This paper describes a techno-economic assessment of the most suitable flexible technologies for the wind-dominated all Ireland electricity market (the Single Electricity Market (SEM)). The analysis is conducted by considering the impact of a series of policy scenarios which are compared in an electricity market model. The comparison is quantified using three primary metrics: technical benefits to the system, economic advantages to the consumer and investment viability. Modelling results suggest that advanced CCGT and energy storage solutions are the most advantageous, however they need strong governmental support to attract potential investors and guarantee deployment in the market. - Highlights: •Future efficiency and stability of the wind dominated require flexible generators. •Energy storage systems are the most technically advantageous flexible generators. •The advanced flexible CCGT is the most efficient solution from an economic point of view. •Traditional peaking plants (OCGT) is the least advantageous flexible generator. •The governments will play a key role in integration of the flexible technologies.

Flexible interaction of plug-in electric vehicle parking lots for efficient wind integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heydarian-Forushani, E.; Golshan, M.E.H.; Shafie-khah, M.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Interactive incorporation of plug-in electric vehicle parking lots is investigated. • Flexible energy and reserve services are provided by electric vehicle parking lots. • Uncertain characterization of electric vehicle owners’ behavior is taken into account. • Coordinated operation of parking lots can facilitate wind power integration. - Abstract: The increasing share of uncertain wind generation has changed traditional operation scheduling of power systems. The challenges of this additional variability raise the need for an operational flexibility in providing both energy and reserve. One key solution is an effective incorporation of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) into the power system operation process. To this end, this paper proposes a two-stage stochastic programming market-clearing model considering the network constraints to achieve the optimal scheduling of conventional units as well as PEV parking lots (PLs) in providing both energy and reserve services. Different from existing works, the paper pays more attention to the uncertain characterization of PLs takes into account the arrival/departure time of PEVs to/from the PL, the initial state of charge (SOC) of PEVs, and their battery capacity through a set of scenarios in addition to wind generation scenarios. The results reveal that although the cost saving as a consequence of incorporating PL to the grid is below 1% of total system cost, however, flexible interactions of PL in the energy and reserve markets can promote the integration of wind power more than 13.5%.

The high integrity design and manufacture of the Heysham II/Torness gas baffle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armor, J.; Day, B.V.; White, C.M.

1985-01-01

The AGR design used on the Heysham II and Torness power stations requires a gas baffle which is essentially a steel pressure vessel for which one can demonstrate a high degree of integrity. The design, analytical, manufacturing, erection and testing processes which were undertaken to achieve the standard required of the completed assembly are discussed. To this end the vessels were manufactured in purpose-made shops and transported to site, leaving a minimum amount of work to be undertaken at site. Subsequent evaluation has shown a very low probability of failure compared with conventional steel pressure vessels. (author)

On the integrity of flexible pipes for subsea applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almeida, Marcos C. de; Brack, Marcelo; Lontra Filho, Lauro L.; Jorge, Nilo de M. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2005-07-01

Most of PETROBRAS offshore oil and gas production is conveyed through Flexible Pipes (FPs) used for gathering, exporting and importing functions. PETROBRAS is the greatest user of FPs worldwide and, due to the complexity of the FP, a composite structure having many steel and polymeric layers and end fittings, it implies a huge number of possible failure mechanisms, much more than those expected for steel pipes. The use of FP demands a special approach over all life cycle phases, from the basic engineering up to the operation/reuse/decommission, by evaluating the application feasibility together with potential failures. This paper accounts some of PETROBRAS experience on FPs, mainly a current approach on their integrity and planned measures in order to assure production and prevent accidents, based on the most relevant failure mechanisms. The preventive actions includes review on failures and their causes and, consequently, improvement on specifications, FP design verification, prototype qualification, inspection and monitoring of integrity key parameters during installation and operation, as well as, maintenance. A FPs Company Integrity Directives and Database will allow a continuous improvement of field systems reliability through to a periodic assessment of performances and feedback to activities for the whole FP life cycle. (author)

Flexible automation and the loss of pooling synergy

OpenAIRE

Slomp, Jannes; Zee, Durk-Jouke van der

2001-01-01

This paper focuses on the effects of flexible automation on the performance of a job shop. Flexible automated machines may significantly improve the delivery performance and the flow time of jobs. The insertion of a flexible automated system in a job shop, however, also has a counter effect on the manufacturing performance. This is caused by the reduction of pooling synergy due to the dedication implied by flexible automated machines. This paper investigates by means of a simulation study to ...

Design, Manufacturing and Integration of LHC Cryostat Components an Example of Collaboration between CERN and Industry

CERN Document Server

Slits, Ivo; Canetti, Marco; Colombet, Thierry; Gangini, Fabrizio; Parma, Vittorio; Tock, Jean-Philippe

2006-01-01

The components for the LHC cryostats and interconnections are supplied by European industry. The manufacturing, assembly and testing of these components in accordance with CERN technical specifications require a close collaboration and dedicated approach from the suppliers. This paper presents the different phases of design, manufacturing, testing and integration of four LHC cryostat components supplied by RIAL Vacuum (Parma, Italy), including 112 Insulation Vacuum Barriers (IVB), 482 Cold-mass Extension Tubes (CET), 121 cryostat vacuum vessel Jumper Elbows (JE) and 10800 Interconnection Sleeves (IS). The Quality Assurance Plan, which the four projects have in common, is outlined. The components are all leak-tight thin stainless steel assemblies (<10-8 mbar l/s), most of them operating at cryogenic temperature (2 K), however each having specific requirements. The particularities of each component are presented with respect to manufacturing, assembly and testing. These components are being integrated ...

An integrated approach for developing a technology strategy framework for small- to medium-sized furniture manufacturers to improve competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lourens, A.S.

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Low-technology firms, such as those found within the furniture manufacturing industry, have no framework or methodology to guide them successfully to acquire and integrate technology that enables them to operate more competitively. The aim of this article is to illustrate the development of a technology strategy framework for small- to medium-sized furniture manufacturers to assist them to improve their competitiveness. More specifically, this article presents an integrated technology strategy framework that enables management to integrate their business strategy with their technology requirements successfully, thus improving competitiveness.

INTEGRATION OF COST MODELS AND PROCESS SIMULATION TOOLS FOR OPTIMUM COMPOSITE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pack, Seongchan [General Motors; Wilson, Daniel [General Motors; Aitharaju, Venkat [General Motors; Kia, Hamid [General Motors; Yu, Hang [ESI, Group.; Doroudian, Mark [ESI Group

2017-09-05

Manufacturing cost of resin transfer molded composite parts is significantly influenced by the cycle time, which is strongly related to the time for both filling and curing of the resin in the mold. The time for filling can be optimized by various injection strategies, and by suitably reducing the length of the resin flow distance during the injection. The curing time can be reduced by the usage of faster curing resins, but it requires a high pressure injection equipment, which is capital intensive. Predictive manufacturing simulation tools that are being developed recently for composite materials are able to provide various scenarios of processing conditions virtually well in advance of manufacturing the parts. In the present study, we integrate the cost models with process simulation tools to study the influence of various parameters such as injection strategies, injection pressure, compression control to minimize high pressure injection, resin curing rate, and demold time on the manufacturing cost as affected by the annual part volume. A representative automotive component was selected for the study and the results are presented in this paper

Flexible Visual Quality Inspection in Discrete Manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Petković, Tomislav; Jurić, Darko; Lončarić, Sven

2013-01-01

Most visual quality inspections in discrete manufacturing are composed of length, surface, angle or intensity measurements. Those are implemented as end-user configurable inspection tools that should not require an image processing expert to set up. Currently available software solutions providing such capability use a flowchart based programming environment, but do not fully address an inspection flowchart robustness and can require a redefinition of the flowchart if a small variation is int...

Prefabricated Construction using Digitally Integrated Industrial Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harry Giles

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The paper describes research being carried out in relation to prefabricated high density affordablehousing under a grant from the Partnership for the Advancement of Technology in Housing(PATH and the National Science Foundation (NSF in the USA. The objective is to demonstratehow a new paradigm for the conceptualization and construction of buildings can be conceivedof as an entirely factory based process that creates advantages for construction through industrialsystems technology transfer. Our approach is intended to transform design methodologythrough demonstrating how alternative construction concepts, using entirely pre-manufacturedvolumetric units, can be adopted. This involves digital modeling that facilitates parametric variationsfor creating customized prefabricated products from design conceptualization through tofinal product delivery. The paper discusses key areas under investigation in relation to a manufacturingparadigm used in the automotive industry that integrates virtual prototyping and industrialmanufacturing systems. Our research explores a type of monocoque volumetric unit prefabricatedin steel, which will be pre-finished as part of a modular factory-built approach usingindustrialized methodologies that will facilitate customized manufacture of a high quality energyefficient product for affordable housing.The paper addresses the automotive industry methods of manufacture that have served increasedautomobile performance and economics through mass production for over a century. In starkcontrast, the building industry and in particular the housing industry is still a century behind. It issuggested that a move away from tradition will require an industry wide initiative, just like HenryFord led the way with mass production. By embracing the increasing sophistication and capabilitythat digital technology offers, it is shown how digital tools are implemented towards masscustomization in house design using virtual modeling in the

Integrating Materials, Manufacturing, Design and Validation for Sustainability in Future Transport Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, M. A.; Murphy, A.; Butterfield, J.; McCool, R.; Fleck, R.

2011-01-01

The predictive methods currently used for material specification, component design and the development of manufacturing processes, need to evolve beyond the current 'metal centric' state of the art, if advanced composites are to realise their potential in delivering sustainable transport solutions. There are however, significant technical challenges associated with this process. Deteriorating environmental, political, economic and social conditions across the globe have resulted in unprecedented pressures to improve the operational efficiency of the manufacturing sector generally and to change perceptions regarding the environmental credentials of transport systems in particular. There is a need to apply new technologies and develop new capabilities to ensure commercial sustainability in the face of twenty first century economic and climatic conditions as well as transport market demands. A major technology gap exists between design, analysis and manufacturing processes in both the OEMs, and the smaller companies that make up the SME based supply chain. As regulatory requirements align with environmental needs, manufacturers are increasingly responsible for the broader lifecycle aspects of vehicle performance. These include not only manufacture and supply but disposal and re-use or re-cycling. In order to make advances in the reduction of emissions coupled with improved economic efficiency through the provision of advanced lightweight vehicles, four key challenges are identified as follows: Material systems, Manufacturing systems, Integrated design methods using digital manufacturing tools and Validation systems. This paper presents a project which has been designed to address these four key issues, using at its core, a digital framework for the creation and management of key parameters related to the lifecycle performance of thermoplastic composite parts and structures. It aims to provide capability for the proposition, definition, evaluation and demonstration of

Integrating Materials, Manufacturing, Design and Validation for Sustainability in Future Transport Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Price, M. A.; Murphy, A.; Butterfield, J.; McCool, R.; Fleck, R.

2011-05-01

The predictive methods currently used for material specification, component design and the development of manufacturing processes, need to evolve beyond the current `metal centric' state of the art, if advanced composites are to realise their potential in delivering sustainable transport solutions. There are however, significant technical challenges associated with this process. Deteriorating environmental, political, economic and social conditions across the globe have resulted in unprecedented pressures to improve the operational efficiency of the manufacturing sector generally and to change perceptions regarding the environmental credentials of transport systems in particular. There is a need to apply new technologies and develop new capabilities to ensure commercial sustainability in the face of twenty first century economic and climatic conditions as well as transport market demands. A major technology gap exists between design, analysis and manufacturing processes in both the OEMs, and the smaller companies that make up the SME based supply chain. As regulatory requirements align with environmental needs, manufacturers are increasingly responsible for the broader lifecycle aspects of vehicle performance. These include not only manufacture and supply but disposal and re-use or re-cycling. In order to make advances in the reduction of emissions coupled with improved economic efficiency through the provision of advanced lightweight vehicles, four key challenges are identified as follows: Material systems, Manufacturing systems, Integrated design methods using digital manufacturing tools and Validation systems. This paper presents a project which has been designed to address these four key issues, using at its core, a digital framework for the creation and management of key parameters related to the lifecycle performance of thermoplastic composite parts and structures. It aims to provide capability for the proposition, definition, evaluation and demonstration of

Readiness Assessment Towards Smart Manufacturing System for Tuna Processing Industry in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Anggrahini, D.; Kurniati, N.; Karningsih, P. D.; Parenreng, S. M.; Syahroni, N.

2018-04-01

Marine product processing is one of the top priority clusters in the national development. Tuna, as a kind of deep ocean fishes, has the highest number of production that significantly increased throughout the years. Indonesia government encourages tuna processing industry, which are mostly dominated by small to medium enterprises, to grow continuously. Nowadays, manufacturers are facing substantial challenges in adopting modern system and technology that will lead a significant improvement through the internet of things (IoT). A smart factory transform integrated manufacturing process, in a high speed processing to respond customer needs. It has some positive impacts, such as increasing productivity, reducing set up time, shortening marketing and other support activities, hence the process is being more flexible and efficient. To implement smart manufacturing system, factories should know the readiness at any level of them, technology capability and strategy appropriateness. This exploratory study aims to identify the criterias, and develop an assessment tools to measure the level towards smart factory.

Seleção de flexibilidades de manufatura: uma analogia à carteira de ações para minimização de riscos e problemas no ambiente fabril Manufacturing flexibility selection: an analogy to the stock portfolio management for risk and problem minimization in the manufacturing environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ualison Rébula Oliveira

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Para empresas de manufatura, vários autores recomendam a utilização da flexibilidade de manufatura para a minimização dos impactos prejudiciais que os riscos incutem às organizações. Entretanto, a característica multidimensional da flexibilidade de manufatura e os trade-offs existentes entre os diversos tipos dificultam a tarefa de se selecionar e adequar o grau de flexibilidade a ser adotado, frente às variáveis existentes. Além disso, a escolha indevida de tipos de flexibilidade para a solução de problemas pode gerar investimentos desnecessários e inadequados, ocasionando perda de capital e ineficiência no uso dos recursos flexíveis escolhidos para antecipação aos riscos. Assim, disponibilizar à gestão de operações resultados que permitam a seleção de diferentes tipos de flexibilidade, segundo as necessidades e a disponibilidade de recursos de cada empresa, torna-se crucial. Com esse propósito, efetuou-se uma pesquisa empírica que contemplou oito empresas de cinco segmentos industriais, na qual, por meio de uma analogia à diversificação de riscos em carteira de ações, propõe-se a composição de cinco diferentes tipos de carteiras de flexibilidades, para cinco diferentes segmentos industriais.Many authors recommend the use of manufacturing flexibility to minimize the harmful effects that risks instill in manufacturing companies. However, the multidimensional feature of manufacturing flexibility and the several different types of trade-offs make it difficult to select and customize the flexibility level to be adopted due to the existing variables. Moreover, choosing wrong types of flexibility for the solution of problems may lead to unnecessary and inadequate investments resulting in capital loss and inefficiency in the use of flexible resources for risk anticipation. Therefore, it becomes crucial to provide operations management with results that allow the selection of different types of flexibility according

Integrated manufacture of a freeform off-axis multi-reflective imaging system without optical alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zexiao; Liu, Xianlei; Fang, Fengzhou; Zhang, Xiaodong; Zeng, Zhen; Zhu, Linlin; Yan, Ning

2018-03-19

Multi-reflective imaging systems find wide applications in optical imaging and space detection. However, it is faced with difficulties in adjusting the freeform mirrors with high accuracy to guarantee the optical function. Motivated by this, an alignment-free manufacture approach is proposed to machine the optical system. The direct optical performance-guided manufacture route is established without measuring the form error of freeform optics. An analytical model is established to investigate the effects of machine errors to serve the error identification and compensation in machining. Based on the integrated manufactured system, an ingenious self-designed testing configuration is constructed to evaluate the optical performance by directly measuring the wavefront aberration. Experiments are carried out to manufacture a three-mirror anastigmat, surface topographical details and optical performance shows agreement to the designed expectation. The final system works as an off-axis infrared imaging system. Results validate the feasibility of the proposed method to achieve excellent optical application.

Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems as an Application of Mass Customisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Steffen; Nielsen, Kjeld; Jørgensen, Kaj Asbjørn

2011-01-01

Manufacturing systems are today developed as engineer to order solutions tailored to producing a specific product or a limited product mix. Such dedicated systems are not consistent with market demands for rapid product changes, product variety, and customisation, which require flexibility...... and responsiveness of manufacturing systems. A Reconfigurable Manufacturing System (RMS) is aimed at possess such flexibility and responsiveness and is said to be the manufacturing paradigm of tomorrow. RMS is, though, not yet fully developed. A similarity between RMS and modular product families, known from Mass...... Customisation (MC), is seen and based on this similarity a potential to maturing RMS further by applying MC methods and techniques is identified. Based on literature surveys this paper analyses this potential by diagnosing gabs for RMS to succeed as a MC product. For each gab MC theory holds related methods...

Structure and relationships within global manufacturing virtual networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Ramón Vilana

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Global Manufacturing Virtual Networks (GMVNs are dynamically changing organizations formed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs, Contract Manufacturers (CMs, turn-key and component suppliers, R+D centres and distributors. These networks establish a new type of vertical and horizontal relations between independent companies or even competitors where it is not needed to maintain internal manufacturing resources but to manage and share the network resources. The fluid relations that exist within the GMVNs allow them a very permeable organization easy to connect and disconnect from one to each other as well as to choose a set of partners with specific attributes. The result is a highly flexible system characterized by low barriers to entry and exit, geographic flexibility, low costs, rapid technological diffusion, high diversification through contract manufacturers and exceptional economies of scale. Anyhow, there are three major drawbacks in the GMVNs that should be considered at the beginning of this type of collaborations: 1 the risk of contract manufacturers to develop their own end-products in competition with their customers; 2 the technology transfer between competitors OEMs through other members of the GMVN and 3 the lose of process expertise by the OEMs the more they outsource manufacturing processes to the network.

Automation and Integration in Semiconductor Manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Liao, Da-Yin

2010-01-01

Semiconductor automation originates from the prevention and avoidance of frauds in daily fab operations. As semiconductor technology and business continuously advance and grow, manufacturing systems must aggressively evolve to meet the changing technical and business requirements in this industry. Semiconductor manufacturing has been suffering pains from islands of automation. The problems associated with these systems are limited

2001 Industry Studies: Advanced Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

2001-05-28

oriented, 19 and manufacturers are employing the Internet and associated information technologies to better integrate supply chains and form extended...ways to compete in world markets . As part of this ongoing transformation, the broad implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies , processes...competitive advantages and better performance in world markets . Importantly, advanced manufacturing involves the innovative integration of new technology

Sensor Technologies on Flexible Substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Koehne, Jessica

2016-01-01

NASA Ames has developed sensor technologies on flexible substrates integrated into textiles for personalized environment monitoring and human performance evaluation. Current technologies include chemical sensing for gas leak and event monitoring and biological sensors for human health and performance monitoring. Targeted integration include next generation EVA suits and flexible habitats.

Polyimide-Epoxy Composites with Superior Bendable Properties for Application in Flexible Electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sangyoup; Yoo, Taewon; Han, Youngyu; Kim, Hanglim; Han, Haksoo

2017-08-01

The need for flexible electronics with outstanding bending properties is increasing due to the demand for wearable devices and next-generation flexible or rollable smartphones. In addition, the requirements for flexible or rigid-flexible electronics are sharply increasing to achieve the design of space-saving electronic devices. In this regard, coverlay (CL) film is a key material used in the bending area of flexible electronics, albeit infrequently. Because flexible electronics undergo folding and unfolding numerous times, CL films with superior mechanical and bending properties are required so that the bending area can endure such severe stress. However, because current CL films are only used for a designated bending area in the flexible electronics panel, their highly complicated and expensive manufacturing procedure is a disadvantage. In addition, the thickness of CL films must be decreased to satisfy the ongoing requirement for increasingly thin products. However, due to the limitations of the two-layer structure of existing CL films, the manufacturing process cannot be made more cost effective by simply applying more thin film onto the board. To address this problem, we have developed liquid coverlay inks (LCIs) with superior bendable properties, in comparison with CL films, when applied onto flexible electronics using a screen-printing method. The results show that LCIs have the potential to become one of the leading candidates to replace existing CL films because of their lower cost and faster manufacturing process.

Flexible thin-film NFC tags

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Myny, K.; Tripathi, A.K.; Steen, J.L. van der; Cobb, B.

2015-01-01

Thin-film transistor technologies have great potential to become the key technology for leafnode Internet of Things by utilizing the NFC protocol as a communication medium. The main requirements are manufacturability on flexible substrates at a low cost while maintaining good device performance

Design and Evaluation of a Reconfigurable Manufacturing System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Shuai; Li, Yang; Bilberg, Arne

2014-01-01

In modern manufacturing industry, reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a promising concept in the research arena. A new RMS system structure has been recently designed by a large consumer goods manufacturer in Europe, aiming to improve its production efficiency. This article shows...... implemented in this consumer goods manufacturer can be effectively (re)configured as part of the daily operations, and the configuration is analyzed by computer simulation before release. Flexibility can be increased considerably meanwhile the system can maintain an acceptable productivity....

Reversibly Bistable Flexible Electronics

KAUST Repository

Alfaraj, Nasir

2015-05-01

Introducing the notion of transformational silicon electronics has paved the way for integrating various applications with silicon-based, modern, high-performance electronic circuits that are mechanically flexible and optically semitransparent. While maintaining large-scale production and prototyping rapidity, this flexible and translucent scheme demonstrates the potential to transform conventionally stiff electronic devices into thin and foldable ones without compromising long-term performance and reliability. In this work, we report on the fabrication and characterization of reversibly bistable flexible electronic switches that utilize flexible n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. The transistors are fabricated initially on rigid (100) silicon substrates before they are peeled off. They can be used to control flexible batches of light-emitting diodes, demonstrating both the relative ease of scaling at minimum cost and maximum reliability and the feasibility of integration. The peeled-off silicon fabric is about 25 µm thick. The fabricated devices are transferred to a reversibly bistable flexible platform through which, for example, a flexible smartphone can be wrapped around a user’s wrist and can also be set back to its original mechanical position. Buckling and cyclic bending of such host platforms brings a completely new dimension to the development of flexible electronics, especially rollable displays.

Flexible devices: from materials, architectures to applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Mingzhi; Ma, Yue; Yuan, Xin; Hu, Yi; Liu, Jie; Jin, Zhong

2018-01-01

Flexible devices, such as flexible electronic devices and flexible energy storage devices, have attracted a significant amount of attention in recent years for their potential applications in modern human lives. The development of flexible devices is moving forward rapidly, as the innovation of methods and manufacturing processes has greatly encouraged the research of flexible devices. This review focuses on advanced materials, architecture designs and abundant applications of flexible devices, and discusses the problems and challenges in current situations of flexible devices. We summarize the discovery of novel materials and the design of new architectures for improving the performance of flexible devices. Finally, we introduce the applications of flexible devices as key components in real life. Project supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2017YFA0208200, 2016YFB0700600, 2015CB659300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21403105, 21573108), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 020514380107).

Integrated Monitoring System of Production Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oborski Przemysław

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Integrated monitoring system for discrete manufacturing processes is presented in the paper. The multilayer hardware and software reference model was developed. Original research are an answer for industry needs of the integration of information flow in production process. Reference model corresponds with proposed data model based on multilayer data tree allowing to describe orders, products, processes and save monitoring data. Elaborated models were implemented in the integrated monitoring system demonstrator developed in the project. It was built on the base of multiagent technology to assure high flexibility and openness on applying intelligent algorithms for data processing. Currently on the base of achieved experience an application integrated monitoring system for real production system is developed. In the article the main problems of monitoring integration are presented, including specificity of discrete production, data processing and future application of Cyber-Physical-Systems. Development of manufacturing systems is based more and more on taking an advantage of applying intelligent solutions into machine and production process control and monitoring. Connection of technical systems, machine tools and manufacturing processes monitoring with advanced information processing seems to be one of the most important areas of near future development. It will play important role in efficient operation and competitiveness of the whole production system. It is also important area of applying in the future Cyber-Physical-Systems that can radically improve functionally of monitoring systems and reduce the cost of its implementation.

Corporate Financial Flexibility, Investment Activities, and Cash Holding: Evidence From Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Rahmat Heru Setianto; Addenver Kusumaputra

2017-01-01

This paper examines empirically the impact of financial flexibility on investment activities. Furthermore, we also investigate how financial flexibility determines the sensitivity of investment activities to cash flow. Using annual data of Indonesian manufacturing firms spanning five years, our analyses reveal that financial flexibility enhances investment ability and decreases sensitivity of investment activities to cash flow. Further analysis indicates that financially flexible firms in Ind...

Topology Optimization for Additive Manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Anders

This PhD thesis deals with the combination of topology optimization and additive man-ufacturing (AM, also known as 3D-printing). In addition to my own works, the thesis contains a broader review and assessment of the literature within the field. The thesis first presents a classification...... of the various AM technologies, a review of relevant manufacturing materials, the properties of these materials in the additively manufactured part, as well as manufacturing constraints with a potential for design optimization. Subsequently, specific topology optimization formulations relevant for the most im...... for scalable manufacturing. In relation to interface problems it is shown how a flexible void area may be included into a standard minimum compliance problem by employing an additional design variable field and a sensitivity filter. Furthermore, it is shown how the design of coated structures may be modeled...

CMOS-Technology-Enabled Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Internet of Everything Applications

KAUST Repository

Hussain, Aftab M.

2015-11-26

Flexible and stretchable electronics can dramatically enhance the application of electronics for the emerging Internet of Everything applications where people, processes, data and devices will be integrated and connected, to augment quality of life. Using naturally flexible and stretchable polymeric substrates in combination with emerging organic and molecular materials, nanowires, nanoribbons, nanotubes, and 2D atomic crystal structured materials, significant progress has been made in the general area of such electronics. However, high volume manufacturing, reliability and performance per cost remain elusive goals for wide commercialization of these electronics. On the other hand, highly sophisticated but extremely reliable, batch-fabrication-capable and mature complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based technology has facilitated tremendous growth of today\\'s digital world using thin-film-based electronics; in particular, bulk monocrystalline silicon (100) which is used in most of the electronics existing today. However, one fundamental challenge is that state-of-the-art CMOS electronics are physically rigid and brittle. Therefore, in this work, how CMOS-technology-enabled flexible and stretchable electronics can be developed is discussed, with particular focus on bulk monocrystalline silicon (100). A comprehensive information base to realistically devise an integration strategy by rational design of materials, devices and processes for Internet of Everything electronics is offered. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Mechanism of supply chain coordination cased on dynamic capability framework-the mediating role of manufacturing capabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiantian Gao

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: A critical issue has been absent from the conversation on supply chain coordination: how supply chain coordination influence the enterprise performance. This research proposes a new vision to research the performance mechanism of supply chain coordination capability as a dynamic capability. Manufacturing capabilities are existed as mediating role. Design/methodology/approach: Data from International Manufacturing Strategy Survey in 2009 is used to verify the mediating model by hierarchical regression analysis. Findings: The results show that supply chain coordination impacts the enterprise performance positively and indirect impacts the enterprise performance through quality, cost, flexibility. Research implications: This study presents an overview of the impact of supply chain coordination and manufacturing capabilities on enterprise performance, giving grasp for further research of the relationships that exist between them. Originality/value: This finding integrates insights from previous research in dynamic capability framework and supply chain management into a generalization and extension of the performance mechanism in manufacturing enterprises.

Materials and Techniques for Implantable Nutrient Sensing Using Flexible Sensors Integrated with Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Wei; Liew, Guoguang; Li, Ya; Hao, Yafeng; Pan, Huizhuo; Wang, Hanjie; Ning, Baoan; Xu, Hang; Huang, Xian

2018-06-01

The combination of novel materials with flexible electronic technology may yield new concepts of flexible electronic devices that effectively detect various biological chemicals to facilitate understanding of biological processes and conduct health monitoring. This paper demonstrates single- or multichannel implantable flexible sensors that are surface modified with conductive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) such as copper-MOF and cobalt-MOF with large surface area, high porosity, and tunable catalysis capability. The sensors can monitor important nutriments such as ascorbicacid, glycine, l-tryptophan (l-Trp), and glucose with detection resolutions of 14.97, 0.71, 4.14, and 54.60 × 10 -6 m, respectively. In addition, they offer sensing capability even under extreme deformation and complex surrounding environment with continuous monitoring capability for 20 d due to minimized use of biological active chemicals. Experiments using live cells and animals indicate that the MOF-modified sensors are biologically safe to cells, and can detect l-Trp in blood and interstitial fluid. This work represents the first effort in integrating MOFs with flexible sensors to achieve highly specific and sensitive implantable electrochemical detection and may inspire appearance of more flexible electronic devices with enhanced capability in sensing, energy storage, and catalysis using various properties of MOFs. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Generic Challenges and Automation Solutions in Manufacturing SMEs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grube Hansen, David; Malik, Ali Ahmad; Bilberg, Arne

2017-01-01

Evermore research is conducted on smart manufacturing, digital manufacturing and other aspects of what is expected from the fourth industrial revolution known as Industry 4.0. Most of the research of Industry 4.0 is currently a better fit for large corporations than for SMEs, which in Europe...... of the project, identifies a correlation between the challenges, age and size of the companies. The identified correlation lay ground for an Industry 4.0 light concept, targeting the identified generic challenges of companies employing 10-50 people. The solutions presented are based on cloud computing, Internet...... however represent 98% of the manufacturing industry. In general, SMEs produce high-mix low-volume products, which require a high degree of flexibility. Historically flexibility and automation have been contradictory, but as automation becomes smarter, digitalized and less expensive, this may change which...

Flexible System Integration and Advanced Hierarchical Control Architectures in the Microgrid Research Laboratory of Aalborg University

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meng, Lexuan; Hernández, Adriana Carolina Luna; Diaz, Enrique Rodriguez

2016-01-01

This paper presents the system integration and hierarchical control implementation in an inverter-based microgrid research laboratory (MGRL) in Aalborg University, Denmark. MGRL aims to provide a flexible experimental platform for comprehensive studies of microgrids. The structure of the laborato...

Efficiency and Throughput Advances in Continuous Roll-to-Roll a-Si Alloy PV Manufacturing Technology: Final Subcontract Report, 22 June 1998 -- 5 October 2001

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellison, T.

2002-04-01

This report describes a roll-to-roll triple-junction amorphous silicon alloy PV manufacturing technology developed and commercialized by Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) and United Solar Systems. This low material cost, roll-to-roll production technology has the economies of scale needed to meet the cost goals necessary for widespread use of PV. ECD has developed and built six generations of a-Si production equipment, including the present 5 MW United Solar manufacturing plant in Troy, Michigan. ECD is now designing and building a new 25-MW facility, also in Michigan. United Solar holds the world's record for amorphous silicon PV conversion efficiency, and manufactures and markets a wide range of PV products, including flexible portable modules, power modules, and innovative building-integrated PV (BIPV) shingle and metal-roofing modules that take advantage of this lightweight, rugged, and flexible PV technology. All of United Solar's power and BIPV products are approved by Underwriters Laboratories and carry a 10-year warranty. In this PVMaT 5A subcontract, ECD and United Solar are addressing issues to reduce the cost and improve the manufacturing technology for the ECD/United Solar PV module manufacturing process. ECD and United Solar identified five technology development areas that would reduce the module manufacturing cost in the present 5-MW production facility, and also be applicable to future larger-scale manufacturing facilities.

Flexible fault ride through of DFIG wind turbines with DC-chopper solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wessels, Christian; Laubrock, Malte; Bellgardt, Uwe [Nordex Energy GmbH, Hamburg (Germany). System Dept Grid and Grid Integration; Genius, Andreas [Woodward Kempen GmbH, Kempen (Germany). Wind Power Systems

2012-07-01

Grid code requirements are becoming increasingly challenging due to the growing integration of decentralized power generators like renewable energy devices. One of the most challenging grid code requirements is the fault ride through (FRT) of wind turbines. Internationally varying and quickly revised grid code requirements are making it necessary for wind turbine manufacturers to apply competitive hardware and flexible software structures to respond quickly to renewed requirements or project specific changes. In this paper an industrially applied and field-tested hardware solution for the FRT of a DFIG wind turbine is presented. The method using a DC-chopper is making the utilization of the conventionally used rotor crowbar unnecessary. Thus, the consumption of reactive power during grid faults is avoided. Instead, a controlled current can be fed dynamically in order to support the grid voltage and to avoid mechanical stress on the drivetrain of the turbine. Using the presented technology, the application of a flexible FRT software structure is possible to fulfill the internationally varying FRT requirements, which is described here. Selected measurement results from long term FRT tests from a wind turbine manufacturer of a real 2.5 MW wind turbine during grid faults are presented and verify the results. (orig.)

Nuclear fuel in water reactors: Manufacturing technology, operational experience and development objectives in the Federal Republic of Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzer, R.; Knoedler, D.

1977-01-01

The nuclear fuel industry in the Federal Republic of Germany comprises the full range of manufacturing capabilities for pressurized-, boiling- and heavy-water reactor technology. The existing manufacturing companies are Reaktor-Brennelement Union (RBU) and Alkem. RBU makes natural and enriched UO 2 -fuel assemblies, starting with powder preparation. Facilities to produce UO 2 -gadolinia and UO 2 -ThO 2 fuel are also available. Alkem manufactures mixed-oxide UO 2 /PuO 2 fuel and fuel rods. Zircaloy cladding tubes are produced by Nuklearrohr-Gesellschaft (NRG) and Mannesmannroehren-Werke (MRW). Construction of a new fuel manufacturing plant has been announced by Exxon. Supplementary to quality control, an integrated quality assurance system has been established between the reactor vendor's fuel design and engineering division and the existing manufacturing companies for fuel and tubing. Operating experience with LWR and HWR fuel dates back to 1964/65 and has shown good performance. Possible reasons for a small fraction of defective rods could be identified quickly by a fast feedback system incorporating close co-operation between Kraftwerk Union (KWU) and the utilities. KWU combines fuel development, hot-cell and pool-side service facilities as well as fuel technology linked to manufacturing. The responsibility of KWU for core and fuel design, which enabled an integral optimization, was also an important reason for the successful operation and design flexibility. (author)

Cost, resources, and energy efficiency of additive manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Dudek Piotr; Zagórski Krzysztof

2017-01-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) is the process of joining materials to make objects from Computer Aided Design (CAD) model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to using subtractive manufacturing methods. The use of rapid prototyping technologies has increased significantly in recent years. These new techniques, while still evolving, are projected to exert a profound impact on manufacturing. They can reduce energy use and time to market and offer industry new design flexibility. We include a...

Integrated continuous bioprocessing: Economic, operational, and environmental feasibility for clinical and commercial antibody manufacture

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, James; Coffman, Jon; Ho, Sa V.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a systems approach to evaluating the potential of integrated continuous bioprocessing for monoclonal antibody (mAb) manufacture across a product's lifecycle from preclinical to commercial manufacture. The economic, operational, and environmental feasibility of alternative continuous manufacturing strategies were evaluated holistically using a prototype UCL decisional tool that integrated process economics, discrete‐event simulation, environmental impact analysis, operational risk analysis, and multiattribute decision‐making. The case study focused on comparing whole bioprocesses that used either batch, continuous or a hybrid combination of batch and continuous technologies for cell culture, capture chromatography, and polishing chromatography steps. The cost of goods per gram (COG/g), E‐factor, and operational risk scores of each strategy were established across a matrix of scenarios with differing combinations of clinical development phase and company portfolio size. The tool outputs predict that the optimal strategy for early phase production and small/medium‐sized companies is the integrated continuous strategy (alternating tangential flow filtration (ATF) perfusion, continuous capture, continuous polishing). However, the top ranking strategy changes for commercial production and companies with large portfolios to the hybrid strategy with fed‐batch culture, continuous capture and batch polishing from a COG/g perspective. The multiattribute decision‐making analysis highlighted that if the operational feasibility was considered more important than the economic benefits, the hybrid strategy would be preferred for all company scales. Further considerations outside the scope of this work include the process development costs required to adopt continuous processing. © 2017 The Authors Biotechnology Progress published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:854–866, 2017

Current use and potential of additive manufacturing for optical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Brunelle, Matthew; Ferralli, Ian; Whitsitt, Rebecca; Medicus, Kate

2017-10-01

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has become widely used in recent years for the creation of both prototype and end-use parts. Because the parts are created in a layer-by-layer manner, the flexibility of additive manufacturing is unparalleled and has opened the design space to enable features like undercuts and internal channels which cannot exist on traditional, subtractively manufactured parts. This flexibility can also be leveraged for optical applications. This paper outlines some of the current uses of 3D printing in the optical manufacturing process at Optimax. Several materials and additive technologies are utilized, including polymer printing through fused deposition modeling, which creates parts by depositing a softened thermoplastic filament in a layerwise fashion. Stereolithography, which uses light to cure layers of a photopolymer resin, will also be discussed. These technologies are used to manufacture functional prototypes, fixtures, sealed housings, and other components. Additionally, metal printing through selective laser melting, which uses a laser to melt metal powder layers into a dense solid, will be discussed due to the potential to manufacture thermally stable opticalmechanical assembly frameworks and functional optics. Examples of several additively manufactured optical components will be shown.

Identifying bottlenecks in manufacturing systems using stochastic criticality analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nogueira Bastos, J.P.; van der Sanden, L.J.; Donk, O.; Voeten, J.P.M.; Stuijk, S.; Schiffelers, R.R.H.; Corporaal, H.

2018-01-01

System design is a difficult process with many design-choices for which the impact may be difficult to foresee. Manufacturing system design is no exception to this. Increased use of flexible manufacturing systems which are able to perform different operations/use-cases further raises the design

Encapsulate-and-peel: fabricating carbon nanotube CMOS integrated circuits in a flexible ultra-thin plastic film.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Pingqi; Zhang, Qing

2014-02-14

Fabrication of single-walled carbon nanotube thin film (SWNT-TF) based integrated circuits (ICs) on soft substrates has been challenging due to several processing-related obstacles, such as printed/transferred SWNT-TF pattern and electrode alignment, electrical pad/channel material/dielectric layer flatness, adherence of the circuits onto the soft substrates etc. Here, we report a new approach that circumvents these challenges by encapsulating pre-formed SWNT-TF-ICs on hard substrates into polyimide (PI) and peeling them off to form flexible ICs on a large scale. The flexible SWNT-TF-ICs show promising performance comparable to those circuits formed on hard substrates. The flexible p- and n-type SWNT-TF transistors have an average mobility of around 60 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), a subthreshold slope as low as 150 mV dec(-1), operating gate voltages less than 2 V, on/off ratios larger than 10(4) and a switching speed of several kilohertz. The post-transfer technique described here is not only a simple and cost-effective pathway to realize scalable flexible ICs, but also a feasible method to fabricate flexible displays, sensors and solar cells etc.

Interplant coordination, supply chain integration, and operational performance of a plant in a manufacturing network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Cheng; Chaudhuri, Atanu; Farooq, Sami

2016-01-01

Purpose The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationships at the level of plant in a manufacturing network, labelled as networked plant in the paper, between (1) inter-plant coordination and operational performance, (2) supply chain integration (SCI) and operational performance......, and (3) inter-plant coordination and SCI. Design/methodology/approach This paper is developed based on the data obtained from the sixth version of International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS VI). Specifically, this paper uses a subset of the IMSS VI data set from the 606 plants that identified...

Flexible Metal Oxide/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Neuromorphic Devices on Flexible Conducting Graphene Substrates

OpenAIRE

Wan, Chang Jin; Wang, Wei; Zhu, Li Qiang; Liu, Yang Hui; Feng, Ping; Liu, Zhao Ping; Shi, Yi; Wan, Qing

2016-01-01

Flexible metal oxide/graphene oxide hybrid multi-gate neuron transistors were fabricated on flexible graphene substrates. Dendritic integrations in both spatial and temporal modes were successfully emulated, and spatiotemporal correlated logics were obtained. A proof-of-principle visual system model for emulating lobula giant motion detector neuron was investigated. Our results are of great interest for flexible neuromorphic cognitive systems.

Structure-preserving integrators in nonlinear structural dynamics and flexible multibody dynamics

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book focuses on structure-preserving numerical methods for flexible multibody dynamics, including nonlinear elastodynamics and geometrically exact models for beams and shells. It also deals with the newly emerging class of variational integrators as well as Lie-group integrators. It discusses two alternative approaches to the discretization in space of nonlinear beams and shells. Firstly, geometrically exact formulations, which are typically used in the finite element community and, secondly, the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, which is popular in the multibody dynamics community. Concerning the discretization in time, the energy-momentum method and its energy-decaying variants are discussed. It also addresses a number of issues that have arisen in the wake of the structure-preserving discretization in space. Among them are the parameterization of finite rotations, the incorporation of algebraic constraints and the computer implementation of the various numerical methods. The practical application...

Development of a Measuring System Based on LabVIEW for Angular Stiffness of Integrative Flexible Joint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, C J; Wan, D A

2006-01-01

In order to meet the need of development of integrative flexible joint, this paper presents a higher precision measuring system for angular stiffness test of integrative flexible joint. The main parts of the system include PC, precision motorized goniometric stage, precision motorized rotary stage and high accuracy torque sensor. The measuring and control program is developed on the platform of LabVIEW. The measuring system developed has angular resolution at 0.00032 deg. (about 1'') theoretically in determining the angular displacement of the joint round its equatorial axis and torque accuracy at 0.005 mN · m. The developed program, which presents a friendly GUI, can implement the data acquisition and processing, measuring procedure automatically. In comparison with other measuring devices with similar purposes, the measuring device can improve the measuring efficiency and accuracy distinctly while has advantages of simple configuration, low cost and high stability

Flexible Molybdenum Electrodes towards Designing Affinity Based Protein Biosensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamakoti, Vikramshankar; Panneer Selvam, Anjan; Radha Shanmugam, Nandhinee; Muthukumar, Sriram; Prasad, Shalini

2016-07-18

Molybdenum electrode based flexible biosensor on porous polyamide substrates has been fabricated and tested for its functionality as a protein affinity based biosensor. The biosensor performance was evaluated using a key cardiac biomarker; cardiac Troponin-I (cTnI). Molybdenum is a transition metal and demonstrates electrochemical behavior upon interaction with an electrolyte. We have leveraged this property of molybdenum for designing an affinity based biosensor using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. We have evaluated the feasibility of detection of cTnI in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and human serum (HS) by measuring impedance changes over a frequency window from 100 mHz to 1 MHz. Increasing changes to the measured impedance was correlated to the increased dose of cTnI molecules binding to the cTnI antibody functionalized molybdenum surface. We achieved cTnI detection limit of 10 pg/mL in PBS and 1 ng/mL in HS medium. The use of flexible substrates for designing the biosensor demonstrates promise for integration with a large-scale batch manufacturing process.

Total luminous flux measurement for flexible surface sources with an integrating sphere photometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Hsueh-Ling; Liu, Wen-Chun

2014-01-01

Applying an integrating sphere photometer for total luminous flux measurement is a widely used method. However, the measurement accuracy depends on the spatial uniformity of the integrating sphere, especially when the test sample has a different light distribution from that of the standard source. Therefore, spatial correction is needed to eliminate the effect caused by non-uniformity. To reduce the inconvenience of spatial correction but retain the measurement accuracy, a new type of working standard is designed for flexible and curved surface sources. Applying this new type standard source, the measurement deviation due to different orientations is reduced by an order of magnitude compared with using a naked incandescent lamp as the standard source. (paper)

Assessing the interaction effect of cost control systems and information technology integration on manufacturing plant financial performance

OpenAIRE

Maiga, Adam S; Nilsson, Anders; Jacobs, Fred

2014-01-01

The interface between management control and information technology is an under-developed research area with a knowledge gap concerning its implications for financial performance. This study contributes to bridging this gap by investigates the interaction effect of cost control systems and information technology integration on manufacturing plant financial performance. We surveyed a sample of 518 managers of U.S. manufacturing plants, approximately evenly distributed between those using activ...

A bit-rate flexible and power efficient all-optical demultiplexer realised by monolithically integrated Michelson interferometer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaa, Michael; Mikkelsen, Benny; Jepsen, Kim Stokholm

1996-01-01

A novel bit-rate flexible and very power efficient all-optical demultiplexer using differential optical control of a monolithically integrated Michelson interferometer with MQW SOAs is demonstrated at 40 to 10 Gbit/s. Gain switched DFB lasers provide ultra stable data and control signals....

Internal Fiber Structure of a High-Performing, Additively Manufactured Injection Molding Insert

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hofstätter, Thomas; Baier, Sina; Trinderup, Camilla H.

A standard mold is equipped with additively manufactured inserts in a rectangular shape produced with vat photo polymerization. While the lifetime compared to conventional materials such as brass, steel, and aluminum is reduced, the prototyping and design phase can be shortened significantly...... by using flexible and cost-effective additive manufacturing technologies. Higher production volumes still exceed the capability of additively manufactured inserts, which are overruled by the stronger performance of less-flexible but mechanically advanced materials. In this contribution, the internal...... structure of a high-performing, fiber-reinforced injection molding insert has been analyzed. The insert reached a statistically proven and reproducible lifetime of 4,500 shots, which significantly outperforms any other previously published additively manufactured inserts. Computer tomography, tensile tests...

LEAN-GREEN MANUFACTURING: COLLABORATIVE CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ENGINEERING COURSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARCELO RUDOLFO CALVETE GASPAR

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Lean and Green manufacturing processes aim at achieving lower material and labour costs, while reducing impacts on the environment, and promoting sustainability as a whole. This paper reports on a pilot experiment with higher education and engineering students, exploring the full potential of a collaborative approach on courses integrating the Portuguese Polytechnic of Castelo Branco engineering studies curricula, while simultaneously improving their proficiency in English. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL has become a key area of curricular innovation since it is known for improving both language and content teacher and student motivation. In this context, instructional design for CLIL entailed tandem work of content (engineering and language (English teacher to design learning sequences and strategies. This allowed students to improve not only their language skills in English but also their knowledge in the specific engineering domain content on green and lean manufacturing processes.

Manufacturing technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-09-01

The Manufacturing Technologies Center is an integral part of Sandia National Laboratories, a multiprogram engineering and science laboratory, operated for the Department of Energy (DOE) with major facilities at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California. Our Center is at the core of Sandia`s Advanced Manufacturing effort which spans the entire product realization process.

System and method for manufacture of airfoil components

Science.gov (United States)

Moors, Thomas Michael

2016-11-29

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to systems and methods for manufacturing an airfoil component. The system can include: a geometrical mold; an elongated flexible sleeve having a closed-off interior and positioned within the geometrical mold, wherein the elongated flexible sleeve is further positioned to have a desired geometry; an infusing channel in fluid communication with the closed-off interior of the elongated flexible sleeve and configured to communicate a resinous material thereto; a vacuum channel in fluid communication with the closed-off interior of the elongated flexible sleeve and configured to vacuum seal the closed-off interior of the elongated flexible sleeve; and a glass fiber layer positioned within the closed-off interior of the elongated flexible sleeve.

Human-directed local autonomy for motion guidance and coordination in an intelligent manufacturing system

Science.gov (United States)

Alford, W. A.; Kawamura, Kazuhiko; Wilkes, Don M.

1997-12-01

This paper discusses the problem of integrating human intelligence and skills into an intelligent manufacturing system. Our center has jointed the Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) Project, an international consortium dedicated to developing holonic systems technologies. One of our contributions to this effort is in Work Package 6: flexible human integration. This paper focuses on one activity, namely, human integration into motion guidance and coordination. Much research on intelligent systems focuses on creating totally autonomous agents. At the Center for Intelligent Systems (CIS), we design robots that interact directly with a human user. We focus on using the natural intelligence of the user to simplify the design of a robotic system. The problem is finding ways for the user to interact with the robot that are efficient and comfortable for the user. Manufacturing applications impose the additional constraint that the manufacturing process should not be disturbed; that is, frequent interacting with the user could degrade real-time performance. Our research in human-robot interaction is based on a concept called human directed local autonomy (HuDL). Under this paradigm, the intelligent agent selects and executes a behavior or skill, based upon directions from a human user. The user interacts with the robot via speech, gestures, or other media. Our control software is based on the intelligent machine architecture (IMA), an object-oriented architecture which facilitates cooperation and communication among intelligent agents. In this paper we describe our research testbed, a dual-arm humanoid robot and human user, and the use of this testbed for a human directed sorting task. We also discuss some proposed experiments for evaluating the integration of the human into the robot system. At the time of this writing, the experiments have not been completed.

Manufacturing strategy issues in selected Indian manufacturing industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahender Singh

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents some findings of Indian manufacturing sectors viz. automobile (especially two-wheeler, tractor and general manufacturing industry. Various manufacturing strategy issues such as competitive priorities, improvement activities, and performance measures, have been identified and assessed in Indian context. Sector wise comparison of competitive priorities, improvement activities i.e. advanced manufacturing technology (AMT, integrated information systems (IIS, and advanced management systems (AMS, and performance measure, is provided. Our results showed that most of the Indian companies are still emphasizing on quality. However, automobile sector has set to compete globally with high innovation rate, faster new product development, and continuous improvement. It is also observed that Indian companies are investing more in AMS as compared to IIS and AMT. Manufacturing competence index is also computed for each sector.

A Systematic Framework for Data Management and Integration in a Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Processing Line

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huiyi Cao

2018-05-01

Full Text Available As the pharmaceutical industry seeks more efficient methods for the production of higher value therapeutics, the associated data analysis, data visualization, and predictive modeling require dependable data origination, management, transfer, and integration. As a result, the management and integration of data in a consistent, organized, and reliable manner is a big challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. In this work, an ontological information infrastructure is developed to integrate data within manufacturing plants and analytical laboratories. The ANSI/ISA-88.01 batch control standard has been adapted in this study to deliver a well-defined data structure that will improve the data communication inside the system architecture for continuous processing. All the detailed information of the lab-based experiment and process manufacturing, including equipment, samples and parameters, are documented in the recipe. This recipe model is implemented into a process control system (PCS, data historian, as well as Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN system. Data existing in the recipe can be eventually exported from this system to cloud storage, which could provide a reliable and consistent data source for data visualization, data analysis, or process modeling.

Integrated continuous bioprocessing: Economic, operational, and environmental feasibility for clinical and commercial antibody manufacture.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, James; Coffman, Jon; Ho, Sa V; Farid, Suzanne S

2017-07-01

This paper presents a systems approach to evaluating the potential of integrated continuous bioprocessing for monoclonal antibody (mAb) manufacture across a product's lifecycle from preclinical to commercial manufacture. The economic, operational, and environmental feasibility of alternative continuous manufacturing strategies were evaluated holistically using a prototype UCL decisional tool that integrated process economics, discrete-event simulation, environmental impact analysis, operational risk analysis, and multiattribute decision-making. The case study focused on comparing whole bioprocesses that used either batch, continuous or a hybrid combination of batch and continuous technologies for cell culture, capture chromatography, and polishing chromatography steps. The cost of goods per gram (COG/g), E-factor, and operational risk scores of each strategy were established across a matrix of scenarios with differing combinations of clinical development phase and company portfolio size. The tool outputs predict that the optimal strategy for early phase production and small/medium-sized companies is the integrated continuous strategy (alternating tangential flow filtration (ATF) perfusion, continuous capture, continuous polishing). However, the top ranking strategy changes for commercial production and companies with large portfolios to the hybrid strategy with fed-batch culture, continuous capture and batch polishing from a COG/g perspective. The multiattribute decision-making analysis highlighted that if the operational feasibility was considered more important than the economic benefits, the hybrid strategy would be preferred for all company scales. Further considerations outside the scope of this work include the process development costs required to adopt continuous processing. © 2017 The Authors Biotechnology Progress published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:854-866, 2017. © 2017 The

Fully printed and integrated electrolyzer cells with additive manufacturing for high-efficiency water splitting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Gaoqiang; Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye; Dohrmann, Yeshi; List, Frederick A.; Green, Johney B.; Babu, Sudarsanam S.; Zhang, Feng-Yuan

2018-04-01

Using additive manufacturing (AM) technology, a fundamental material and structure innovation was proposed to significantly increase the energy efficiency, and to reduce the weight, volume and component quantity of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). Four conventional parts (liquid/gas diffusion layer, bipolar plate, gasket, and current distributor) in a PEMEC were integrated into one multifunctional AM plate without committing to tools or molds for the first time. In addition, since the interfacial contact resistances between those parts were eliminated, the comprehensive in-situ characterizations of AM cells showed that an excellent energy efficiency of up to 86.48% was achieved at 2 A/cm2 and 80 degrees C, and the hydrogen generation rate was increased by 61.81% compared to the conventional cell. More importantly, the highly complex inner structures of the AM integrated multifunctional plates also exhibit the potential to break limitations of conventional manufacture methods for hydrogen generation and to open a door for the development of other energy conversion devices, including fuel cells, solar cells and batteries.

INTEGRATED AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING SUPPLY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P.J.S. Van Dyk

2012-01-01

Full Text Available

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Supply planning and traffic flow planning are major activities in the automotive manufacturing environment worldwide. Traditionally, the impact of supply planning strategies on plant traffic is rarely considered. This paper describes the development of a Decision Support System (DSS that will assist automotive manufacturers to analyse the effect of supply planning decisions on plant traffic during the supply planning phase of their logistics planning process. In essence, this DSS consists of a Supply Medium Decision Support Tool (SMDST (an interactive MS-Excel model with Visual Basic interfacing and a traffic flow simulation model tool (using eMPlant simulation software.

AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskaffingsbeplanning en verkeersvloeibeplanning is belangrike aktiwiteite in die motorvervaardigingsbedryf wêreldwyd. Tradisioneel word die uitwerking van verskaffings-beplanningsstrategië op aanlegverkeer selde in ag geneem. Hierdie artikel beskryf die ontwikkeling van ’n Besluitnemings Ondersteuningstelsel (DSS wat motorvervaardigers sal ondersteun in die analise van die effek van verskaffingsbeplanningbesluite op aanlegverkeer tydens die verskaffingsbeplanningsfase van hulle logistieke beplanningsproses. Hierdie DSS bestaan hoofsaaklik uit ’n Verskaffings-vervoermiddel Besluitnemingshulpmiddel (SMDST (’n interaktiewe MS-Excel model met “Visual Basic” koppelling asook ’n simulasiemodel van verkeersvloei (met eM-Plant simulasiesagteware.

COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING: OVERVIEW OF MODERN STANDARDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Рupena

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article deals with modern international standards ISA-95 and ISA-88 on the development of computer inegreted manufacturing. It is shown scope of standards in the context of a hierarchical model of the enterprise. Article is built in such a way to describe the essence of the standards in the light of the basic descriptive models: product definition, resources, schedules and actual performance of industrial activity. Description of the product definition is given by hierarchical presentation of products at various levels of management. Much attention is given to describe this type of resources like equipment, which is logical chain to all these standards. For example, the standard batch process control shows the relationship between the definition of product and equipment on which it is made. The article shows the hierarchy of planning ERP-MES / MOM-SCADA (in terms of standard ISA-95, which traces the decomposition of common production plans of enterprises for specific works at APCS. We consider the appointment of the actual performance of production at MES / MOM considering KPI. Generalized picture of operational activity on a level MES / MOM is shown via general circuit diagrams of the relationship of activities and information flows between the functions. The article is finished by a substantiation of necessity of distribution, approval and development of standards ISA-88 and ISA-95 in Ukraine. The article is an overview and can be useful to specialists in computer-integrated systems control and management of industrial enterprises, system integrators and suppliers.

Encapsulate-and-peel: fabricating carbon nanotube CMOS integrated circuits in a flexible ultra-thin plastic film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Pingqi; Zhang, Qing

2014-01-01

Fabrication of single-walled carbon nanotube thin film (SWNT-TF) based integrated circuits (ICs) on soft substrates has been challenging due to several processing-related obstacles, such as printed/transferred SWNT-TF pattern and electrode alignment, electrical pad/channel material/dielectric layer flatness, adherence of the circuits onto the soft substrates etc. Here, we report a new approach that circumvents these challenges by encapsulating pre-formed SWNT-TF-ICs on hard substrates into polyimide (PI) and peeling them off to form flexible ICs on a large scale. The flexible SWNT-TF-ICs show promising performance comparable to those circuits formed on hard substrates. The flexible p- and n-type SWNT-TF transistors have an average mobility of around 60 cm 2  V −1  s −1 , a subthreshold slope as low as 150 mV  dec −1 , operating gate voltages less than 2 V, on/off ratios larger than 10 4 and a switching speed of several kilohertz. The post-transfer technique described here is not only a simple and cost-effective pathway to realize scalable flexible ICs, but also a feasible method to fabricate flexible displays, sensors and solar cells etc. (paper)

Reliable Radiographic Inspection of Flexible Risers for the Oil Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Rômulo M.; Rebello, Joao Marcos A.; Vaz, Murilo A.

2010-02-01

Flexible risers are composite tubular structures manufactured by the concentric assemblage of cylindrical polymeric and helically wound metallic layers employed to convey pressurized fluids such as oil, gas and water in the ocean environment. The metallic layers account for the flexible risers' structural strength and are dimensioned according to the static and dynamic loads. They are usually installed in a free hanging catenary configuration and are subjected to the direct action of waves and marine currents and wave induced motions from the oil production platform. The fatigue rupture of wire armours in the end fitting or within the riser segment protected by the bend stiffener is an object of major concern. Integrity models have been developed, however inspection techniques are mandatory to ensure that failure is detected. Gammagraphy has been used as a common inspection technique in all regions of the flexible riser, mainly with the single wall-single view method. On the other side, there is not any qualified radiographic procedure to this kind of structure. Radiographic simulation was adopted and its validation with actual gammagraphies and establishment of radiographic parameters to complex radiation geometries were done. Results show the viability of the radiographic inspection analyzing the armour wires' rupture and the displacement between wires.

RELIABLE RADIOGRAPHIC INSPECTION OF FLEXIBLE RISERS FOR THE OIL INDUSTRY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almeida, Romulo M.; Rebello, Joao Marcos A.; Vaz, Murilo A.

2010-01-01

Flexible risers are composite tubular structures manufactured by the concentric assemblage of cylindrical polymeric and helically wound metallic layers employed to convey pressurized fluids such as oil, gas and water in the ocean environment. The metallic layers account for the flexible risers' structural strength and are dimensioned according to the static and dynamic loads. They are usually installed in a free hanging catenary configuration and are subjected to the direct action of waves and marine currents and wave induced motions from the oil production platform. The fatigue rupture of wire armours in the end fitting or within the riser segment protected by the bend stiffener is an object of major concern. Integrity models have been developed, however inspection techniques are mandatory to ensure that failure is detected. Gammagraphy has been used as a common inspection technique in all regions of the flexible riser, mainly with the single wall-single view method. On the other side, there is not any qualified radiographic procedure to this kind of structure. Radiographic simulation was adopted and its validation with actual gammagraphies and establishment of radiographic parameters to complex radiation geometries were done. Results show the viability of the radiographic inspection analyzing the armour wires' rupture and the displacement between wires.

Millimeter-Wave GaN MMIC Integration with Additive Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Coffey, Michael

This thesis addresses the analysis, design, integration and test of microwave and millimeter-wave monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC or MMICs). Recent and ongoing progress in semiconductor device fabrication and MMIC processing technology has pushed the upper limit in MMIC frequencies from millimeter-wave (30-300 GHz) to terahertz (300-3000 GHz). MMIC components operating at these frequencies will be used to improve the sensitivity and performance of radiometers, receivers for communication systems, passive remote sensing systems, transceivers for radar instruments and radio astronomy systems. However, a serious hurdle in the utilization of these MMIC components, and a main topic presented in this thesis, is the development and reliable fabrication of practical packaging techniques. The focus of this thesis is the investigation of first, the design and analysis of microwave and millimeter-wave GaN MMICs and second, the integration of those MMICs into usable waveguide components. The analysis, design and testing of various X-band (8-12 GHz) thru H-band (170-260 GHz) GaN MMIC power amplifier (PA or PAs), including a V-band (40-75 GHz) voltage controlled oscillator, is the majority of this work. Several PA designs utilizing high-efficiency techniques are analyzed, designed and tested. These examples include a 2nd harmonic injection amplifier, a Class-E amplifier fabricated with a GaN-on-SiC 300 GHz fT process, and an example of the applicability of supply-modulation with a Doherty power amplifier, all operating at 10 GHz. Two H-band GaN MMIC PAs are designed, one with integrated CPW-to-waveguide transitions for integration. The analysis of PA stability is especially important for wideband, high- fT devices and a new way of analyzing stability is explored and experimentally validated. Last, the challenges of integrating MMICs operating at millimeter-wave frequencies are discussed and assemblies using additive and traditional manufacturing are demonstrated.

Transforming nanomedicine manufacturing toward Quality by Design and microfluidics.

Science.gov (United States)

Colombo, Stefano; Beck-Broichsitter, Moritz; Bøtker, Johan Peter; Malmsten, Martin; Rantanen, Jukka; Bohr, Adam

2018-04-05

Nanopharmaceuticals aim at translating the unique features of nano-scale materials into therapeutic products and consequently their development relies critically on the progression in manufacturing technology to allow scalable processes complying with process economy and quality assurance. The relatively high failure rate in translational nanopharmaceutical research and development, with respect to new products on the market, is at least partly due to immature bottom-up manufacturing development and resulting sub-optimal control of quality attributes in nanopharmaceuticals. Recently, quality-oriented manufacturing of pharmaceuticals has undergone an unprecedented change toward process and product development interaction. In this context, Quality by Design (QbD) aims to integrate product and process development resulting in an increased number of product applications to regulatory agencies and stronger proprietary defense strategies of process-based products. Although QbD can be applied to essentially any production approach, microfluidic production offers particular opportunities for QbD-based manufacturing of nanopharmaceuticals. Microfluidics provides unique design flexibility, process control and parameter predictability, and also offers ample opportunities for modular production setups, allowing process feedback for continuously operating production and process control. The present review aims at outlining emerging opportunities in the synergistic implementation of QbD strategies and microfluidic production in contemporary development and manufacturing of nanopharmaceuticals. In doing so, aspects of design and development, but also technology management, are reviewed, as is the strategic role of these tools for aligning nanopharmaceutical innovation, development, and advanced industrialization in the broader pharmaceutical field. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Integrated Plasma Simulator: A Flexible Python Framework for Coupled Multiphysics Simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Foley, Samantha S [ORNL; Elwasif, Wael R [ORNL; Bernholdt, David E [ORNL

2011-11-01

High-fidelity coupled multiphysics simulations are an increasingly important aspect of computational science. In many domains, however, there has been very limited experience with simulations of this sort, therefore research in coupled multiphysics often requires computational frameworks with significant flexibility to respond to the changing directions of the physics and mathematics. This paper presents the Integrated Plasma Simulator (IPS), a framework designed for loosely coupled simulations of fusion plasmas. The IPS provides users with a simple component architecture into which a wide range of existing plasma physics codes can be inserted as components. Simulations can take advantage of multiple levels of parallelism supported in the IPS, and can be controlled by a high-level ``driver'' component, or by other coordination mechanisms, such as an asynchronous event service. We describe the requirements and design of the framework, and how they were implemented in the Python language. We also illustrate the flexibility of the framework by providing examples of different types of simulations that utilize various features of the IPS.

A system architecture for holonic manufacturing planning and control (EtoPlan)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wullink, Gerhard; Giebels, M.M.T.; Kals, H.J.J.

2002-01-01

In this paper, we present the system architecture of a flexible manufacturing planning and control system, named EtoPlan. The concept is based on the holonic control approach of building multiple and temporary hierarchies (holarchies). This paper describes the system architecture for flexible

A tactical supply chain planning model with multiple flexibility options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esmaeilikia, Masoud; Fahimnia, Behnam; Sarkis, Joeseph

2016-01-01

Supply chain flexibility is widely recognized as an approach to manage uncertainty. Uncertainty in the supply chain may arise from a number of sources such as demand and supply interruptions and lead time variability. A tactical supply chain planning model with multiple flexibility options...... incorporated in sourcing, manufacturing and logistics functions can be used for the analysis of flexibility adjustment in an existing supply chain. This paper develops such a tactical supply chain planning model incorporating a realistic range of flexibility options. A novel solution method is designed...

The use of agents and objects to integrate virtual enterprises

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pancerella, C.M.

1998-01-01

The manufacturing complex for the Department of Energy (DOE) is distributed: design laboratories, manufacturing facilities, and industrial partners. Designers must have a concurrent engineering environment to support all aspects of the cradle-to-grave product realization process across the distributed sites. Engineers must be able to analyze and simulate processes, retrieve and process heterogeneous information, both archived and current, and access multiple databases. Manufacturers must be able to coordinate activities of various manufacturing centers, which may involve a negotiation process. Furthermore, Sandia must be able to export manufacturing capabilities, such as on-machine acceptance, to outside suppliers. A key element to making this a reality is a flexible information architecture. The DOE information architecture must support a wide-area virtual enterprise, with distributed intelligent software components. The architecture must provide for asynchronous communication; multiple programming languages and operating systems; incorporation of geographically distributed manufacturing services; various hardware platforms; and heterogeneous workstations, PC`s, machine tool controllers, and special-purpose compute engines. Further, it is critical that manufacturing facilities are not isolated from design, planning, and other business activities and that information flows easily and bidirectionally between these activities. To accomplish this seamlessly, heterogeneous knowledge must be exchanged across both domain and organizational boundaries. Distributed object and software agent technologies are two methods for connecting such engineering and manufacturing systems. The two technologies have overlapping goals - interoperability and architectural support for integrating software components - though to date little or no integration of the two technologies has been made.

Disposable photonic integrated circuits for evanescent wave sensors by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll method.

Science.gov (United States)

Aikio, Sanna; Hiltunen, Jussi; Hiitola-Keinänen, Johanna; Hiltunen, Marianne; Kontturi, Ville; Siitonen, Samuli; Puustinen, Jarkko; Karioja, Pentti

2016-02-08

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

Design and manufacturing of skins based on composite corrugated laminates for morphing aerodynamic surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Airoldi, Alessandro; Fournier, Stephane; Borlandelli, Elena; Bettini, Paolo; Sala, Giuseppe

2017-04-01

The paper discusses the approaches for the design and manufacturing of morphing skins based on rectangular-shaped composite corrugated laminates and proposes a novel solution to prevent detrimental effects of corrugation on aerodynamic performances. Additionally, more complex corrugated shapes are presented and analysed. The manufacturing issues related to the production of corrugated laminates are discussed and tests are performed to compare different solutions and to assess the validity of analytical and numerical predictions. The solution presented to develop an aerodynamically efficient skin consists in the integration of an elastomeric cover in the corrugated laminate. The related manufacturing process is presented and assessed, and a fully nonlinear numerical model is developed and characterized to study the behaviour of this skin concept in different load conditions. Finally, configurations based on combinations of individual rectangular-shaped corrugated panels are considered. Their structural properties are numerically investigated by varying geometrical parameters. Performance indices are defined to compare structural stiffness contributions in non-morphing directions with the ones of conventional panels of the same weight. Numerical studies also show that the extension of the concept to complex corrugated shapes may improve both the design flexibility and some specific performances with respect to rectangular shaped corrugations. The overall results validate the design approaches and manufacturing processes to produce corrugated laminates and indicate that the solution for the integration of an elastomeric cover is a feasible and promising method to enhance the aerodynamic efficiency of corrugated skins.

Performance measurement of supply chain flexibility using witness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rituraj Chandrakar

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In today’s global scenario of intense competition and environmental uncertainty flexibility in supply chain has an important role to play for the existence of any supply chain business. A need to be responsive to the constantly changing market scenario and cater to the customer needs, a certain degree of flexibility is required, which requires the coordination of many plants to produce and deliver goods to customers located in different places, and suppliers, which provide each plant with the required components. This paper intends to measure the degree of flexibility required for a two stage supply chain and assessing both the supplier flexibility and the assembler flexibility. In this paper, nine configurations of the SC are considered resulting from the combination of the three degrees of supplier and manufacturer flexibility, i.e. no flexibility, limited flexibility and total flexibility, respectively. Simulation model representing the different flexibility configurations are evaluated and the performance of each configuration analyzed to determine the flexibility configuration suitable to a supply chain. In particular the performance analysis of lead time, work-in-process, service level and cost are measured to determine the suitable flexibility.

Increased demand-side flexibility: market effects and impacts on variable renewable energy integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Åsa Grytli Tveten

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the effect of increased demand-side flexibility (DSF on integration and market value of variable renewable energy sources (VRE. Using assumed potentials, system-optimal within-day shifts in demand are investigated for the Northern European power markets in 2030, applying a comprehensive partial equilibrium model with high temporal and spatial resolution. Increased DSF is found to cause only a minor (less than 3% reduction in consumers’ cost of electricity. VRE revenues are found to increase (up to 5% and 2% for wind and solar power, respectively, and total VRE curtailment decreases by up to 7.2 TWh. Increased DSF causes only limited reductions in GHG emissions. The emission reduction is, however, sensitive to underlying assumptions. We conclude that increased DSF is a promising measure for improving VRE integration. However, low consumers’ savings imply that policies stimulating DFS will be needed to fully use the potential benefits of DSF for VRE integration

Manufacturing Advanced Channel Wall Rocket Liners, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This SBIR will adapt and demonstrate a low cost flexible method of manufacturing channel wall liquid rocket nozzles and combustors, while providing developers a...

Comparative analysis of methods for the microcircuit assembly on flexible polyimide carriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verbitskiy V. G.

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The article presents a classification of methods for the microcircuit assembly with the use of flexible polyimide carriers of different types, and their comparative analysis. The most appropriate method for the manufacturing of flexible dual-layer carriers is singled out.

Manufacturing Concepts of the Future – Upcoming Technologies Solving Upcoming Challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hadar, Ronen; Bilberg, Arne

concepts and technologies that are being developed today which may be used to solve manufacturing challenges in the future, such as: (self) reconfigurable manufacturing systems, (focused) flexible manufacturing systems, and AI inspired manufacturing. The paper will try to offer a critical point of view......This paper presents an examination of Western European manufacturers’ future challenges as can be predicted today. Some of the challenges analyzed in the paper are: globalization, individualism and customization and agility challenges. Hereafter, the paper presents a broad analysis on manufacturing...

Participation : a key for intelligent manufacturing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vink, P.; Eijnatten, F.M. van; Rhijn, G. van

2002-01-01

To meet demands on short delivery times manufacturers are forced to improve the flow of assembly orders. Therefore humans performing the assembly operations should be motivated to increase productivity and flexibility. To achieve this, a participatory approach ‘PSIM’ was developed that could be

Designing a mathematical model for integrating dynamic cellular manufacturing into supply chain system

Science.gov (United States)

Aalaei, Amin; Davoudpour, Hamid

2012-11-01

This article presents designing a new mathematical model for integrating dynamic cellular manufacturing into supply chain system with an extensive coverage of important manufacturing features consideration of multiple plants location, multi-markets allocation, multi-period planning horizons with demand and part mix variation, machine capacity, and the main constraints are demand of markets satisfaction in each period, machine availability, machine time-capacity, worker assignment, available time of worker, production volume for each plant and the amounts allocated to each market. The aim of the proposed model is to minimize holding and outsourcing costs, inter-cell material handling cost, external transportation cost, procurement & maintenance and overhead cost of machines, setup cost, reconfiguration cost of machines installation and removal, hiring, firing and salary worker costs. Aimed to prove the potential benefits of such a design, presented an example is shown using a proposed model.

Modern manufacturing engineering

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

This book covers recent research and trends in Manufacturing Engineering. The chapters emphasize different aspects of the transformation from materials to products. It provides the reader with fundamental materials treatments and the integration of processes. Concepts such as green and lean manufacturing are also covered in this book.

Large area flexible lighting foils using distributed bare LED dies on polyester substrates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ende, D.A. van den; Kusters, R.H.L.; Cauwe, M.; Waal, A. van der; Brand, J. van den

2013-01-01

Integration of LEDs on flexible foil substrates is of interest for flexible lighting applications and for backlights for flexible displays. Such a large area lighting device can be made by integrating a matrix of closely spaced LEDs on a flexible foil substrate. Preferably, these LEDs are integrated

A novel integrated condition-based maintenance and stochastic flexible job shop scheduling problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahmati, Seyed Habib A.; Ahmadi, Abbas; Govindan, Kannan

2018-01-01

the level of the system optimization. By means of this equipment, managers can benefit from a condition-based maintenance (CBM) for monitoring and managing their system. The chief aim of the paper is to develop a stochastic maintenance problem based on CBM activities engaged with a complex applied......Integrated consideration of production planning and maintenance processes is a real world assumption. Specifically, by improving the monitoring equipment such as various sensors or product-embedded information devices in recent years, joint assessment of these processes is inevitable for enhancing...... production problem called flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP). This integrated problem considers two maintenance scenarios in terms of corrective maintenance (CM) and preventive maintenance (PM). The activation of scenario is done by monitoring the degradation condition of the system and comparing...

Limited access: gender, occupational composition, and flexible work scheduling.

Science.gov (United States)

Glauber, Rebecca

2011-01-01

The current study draws on national data to explore differences in access to flexible work scheduling by the gender composition of women's and men's occupations. Results show that those who work in integrated occupations are more likely to have access to flexible scheduling. Women and men do not take jobs with lower pay in return for greater access to flexibility. Instead, jobs with higher pay offer greater flexibility. Integrated occupations tend to offer the greatest access to flexible scheduling because of their structural locations. Part-time work is negatively associated with men's access to flexible scheduling but positively associated with women's access. Women have greater flexibility when they work for large establishments, whereas men have greater flexibility when they work for small establishments.

Modular manufacturing processes : Status, challenges, and opportunities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baldea, Michael; Edgar, Thomas F.; Stanley, Bill L.; Kiss, Anton A.

2017-01-01

Chemical companies are constantly seeking new, high-margin growth opportunities, the majority of which lie in high-grade, specialty chemicals, rather than in the bulk sector. To realize these opportunities, manufacturers are increasingly considering decentralized, flexible production facilities:

Design, Prototyping and Control of a Flexible Cystoscope for Biomedical Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Sozer, Canberk; Ghorbani, Morteza; Alcan, Gokhan; Uvet, Huseyin; Unel, Mustafa; Kosar, Ali

2017-07-01

Kidney stone and prostate hyperplasia are very common urogenital diseases all over the world. To treat these diseases, one of the ESWL (Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy), PCNL (Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy), cystoscopes or open surgery techniques can be used. Cystoscopes named devices are used for in-vivo intervention. A flexible or rigid cystoscope device is inserted into human body and operates on interested area. In this study, a flexible cystoscope prototype has been developed. The prototype is able to bend up to ±40°in X and Y axes, has a hydrodynamic cavitation probe for rounding sharp edges of kidney stone or resection of the filled prostate with hydrodynamic cavitation method and contains a waterproof medical camera to give visual feedback to the operator. The operator steers the flexible end-effector via joystick toward target region. This paper presents design, manufacturing, control and experimental setup of the tendon driven flexible cystoscope prototype. The prototype is 10 mm in outer diameter, 70 mm in flexible part only and 120 mm in total length with flexible part and rigid tube. The experimental results show that the prototype bending mechanism, control system, manufactured prototype parts and experimental setup function properly. A small piece of real kidney stone was broken in targeted area.

Pretreatment of Real Wastewater from the Chocolate Manufacturing Industry through an Integrated Process of Electrocoagulation and Sand Filtration

OpenAIRE

García-Morales, Marco A.; Juárez, Julio César González; Martínez-Gallegos, Sonia; Roa-Morales, Gabriela; Peralta, Ever; del Campo López, Eduardo Martin; Barrera-Díaz, Carlos; Miranda, Verónica Martínez; Blancas, Teresa Torres

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of removal of suspended solids in terms of turbidity, color, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) when integrating the electrocoagulation process using aluminum sacrificial anodes and the sand filtration process as a pretreatment of wastewater from the chocolate manufacturing plant in Toluca, México. Wastewater from the chocolate manufacturing industry used in this study is classified as nontoxic, but is characterized as having a high conte...

A Markovian state-space framework for integrating flexibility into space system design decisions

Science.gov (United States)

Lafleur, Jarret M.

The past decades have seen the state of the art in aerospace system design progress from a scope of simple optimization to one including robustness, with the objective of permitting a single system to perform well even in off-nominal future environments. Integrating flexibility, or the capability to easily modify a system after it has been fielded in response to changing environments, into system design represents a further step forward. One challenge in accomplishing this rests in that the decision-maker must consider not only the present system design decision, but also sequential future design and operation decisions. Despite extensive interest in the topic, the state of the art in designing flexibility into aerospace systems, and particularly space systems, tends to be limited to analyses that are qualitative, deterministic, single-objective, and/or limited to consider a single future time period. To address these gaps, this thesis develops a stochastic, multi-objective, and multi-period framework for integrating flexibility into space system design decisions. Central to the framework are five steps. First, system configuration options are identified and costs of switching from one configuration to another are compiled into a cost transition matrix. Second, probabilities that demand on the system will transition from one mission to another are compiled into a mission demand Markov chain. Third, one performance matrix for each design objective is populated to describe how well the identified system configurations perform in each of the identified mission demand environments. The fourth step employs multi-period decision analysis techniques, including Markov decision processes from the field of operations research, to find efficient paths and policies a decision-maker may follow. The final step examines the implications of these paths and policies for the primary goal of informing initial system selection. Overall, this thesis unifies state-centric concepts of

Benchmarking performance measurement and lean manufacturing in the rough mill

Science.gov (United States)

Dan Cumbo; D. Earl Kline; Matthew S. Bumgardner

2006-01-01

Lean manufacturing represents a set of tools and a stepwise strategy for achieving smooth, predictable product flow, maximum product flexibility, and minimum system waste. While lean manufacturing principles have been successfully applied to some components of the secondary wood products value stream (e.g., moulding, turning, assembly, and finishing), the rough mill is...

Colloidal quantum dot solar cells on curved and flexible substrates

KAUST Repository

Kramer, Illan J.; Moreno-Bautista, Gabriel; Minor, James C.; Kopilovic, Damir; Sargent, Edward H.

2014-01-01

© 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals synthesized with, processed in, and deposited from the solution phase, potentially enabling low-cost, facile manufacture of solar cells. Unfortunately, CQD solar cell reports, until now, have only explored batch-processing methods - such as spin-coating - that offer limited capacity for scaling. Spray-coating could offer a means of producing uniform colloidal quantum dot films that yield high-quality devices. Here, we explore the versatility of the spray-coating method by producing CQD solar cells in a variety of previously unexplored substrate arrangements. The potential transferability of the spray-coating method to a roll-to-roll manufacturing process was tested by spray-coating the CQD active layer onto six substrates mounted on a rapidly rotating drum, yielding devices with an average power conversion efficiency of 6.7%. We further tested the manufacturability of the process by endeavoring to spray onto flexible substrates, only to find that spraying while the substrate was flexed was crucial to achieving champion performance of 7.2% without compromise to open-circuit voltage. Having deposited onto a substrate with one axis of curvature, we then built our CQD solar cells onto a spherical lens substrate having two axes of curvature resulting in a 5% efficient device. These results show that CQDs deposited using our spraying method can be integrated to large-area manufacturing processes and can be used to make solar cells on unconventional shapes.

Colloidal quantum dot solar cells on curved and flexible substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kramer, Illan J.; Moreno-Bautista, Gabriel; Minor, James C.; Kopilovic, Damir; Sargent, Edward H.

2014-01-01

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals synthesized with, processed in, and deposited from the solution phase, potentially enabling low-cost, facile manufacture of solar cells. Unfortunately, CQD solar cell reports, until now, have only explored batch-processing methods—such as spin-coating—that offer limited capacity for scaling. Spray-coating could offer a means of producing uniform colloidal quantum dot films that yield high-quality devices. Here, we explore the versatility of the spray-coating method by producing CQD solar cells in a variety of previously unexplored substrate arrangements. The potential transferability of the spray-coating method to a roll-to-roll manufacturing process was tested by spray-coating the CQD active layer onto six substrates mounted on a rapidly rotating drum, yielding devices with an average power conversion efficiency of 6.7%. We further tested the manufacturability of the process by endeavoring to spray onto flexible substrates, only to find that spraying while the substrate was flexed was crucial to achieving champion performance of 7.2% without compromise to open-circuit voltage. Having deposited onto a substrate with one axis of curvature, we then built our CQD solar cells onto a spherical lens substrate having two axes of curvature resulting in a 5% efficient device. These results show that CQDs deposited using our spraying method can be integrated to large-area manufacturing processes and can be used to make solar cells on unconventional shapes.

Colloidal quantum dot solar cells on curved and flexible substrates

KAUST Repository

Kramer, Illan J.

2014-10-20

© 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals synthesized with, processed in, and deposited from the solution phase, potentially enabling low-cost, facile manufacture of solar cells. Unfortunately, CQD solar cell reports, until now, have only explored batch-processing methods - such as spin-coating - that offer limited capacity for scaling. Spray-coating could offer a means of producing uniform colloidal quantum dot films that yield high-quality devices. Here, we explore the versatility of the spray-coating method by producing CQD solar cells in a variety of previously unexplored substrate arrangements. The potential transferability of the spray-coating method to a roll-to-roll manufacturing process was tested by spray-coating the CQD active layer onto six substrates mounted on a rapidly rotating drum, yielding devices with an average power conversion efficiency of 6.7%. We further tested the manufacturability of the process by endeavoring to spray onto flexible substrates, only to find that spraying while the substrate was flexed was crucial to achieving champion performance of 7.2% without compromise to open-circuit voltage. Having deposited onto a substrate with one axis of curvature, we then built our CQD solar cells onto a spherical lens substrate having two axes of curvature resulting in a 5% efficient device. These results show that CQDs deposited using our spraying method can be integrated to large-area manufacturing processes and can be used to make solar cells on unconventional shapes.

Integrated Manufacturing of Aerospace Components by Superplastic Forming Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju Min Kyung

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aerospace vehicle requires lightweight structures to obtain weight saving and fuel efficiency. It is known that superplastic characteristics of some materials provide significant opportunity for forming complicated, lightweight components of aerospace structure. One of the most important advantages of using superplastic forming process is its simplicity to form integral parts and economy in tooling[1]. For instance, it can be applied to blow-forming, in which a metal sheet is deformed due to the pressure difference of hydrostatic gas on both sides of the sheet. Since the loading medium is gas pressure difference, this forming is different from conventional sheet metal forming technique in that this is stress-controlled rather than strain and strain rate controlled. This method is especially advantageous when several sheet metals are formed into complex shapes. In this study, it is demonstrated that superplastic forming process with titanium and steel alloy can be applied to manufacturing lightweight integral structures of aerospace structural parts and rocket propulsion components. The result shows that the technology to design and develop the forming process of superplastic forming can be applied for near net shape forming of a complex contour of a thrust chamber and a toroidal fuel tank.

Experience with quality assurance in fuel design and manufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzer, R.; Nilson, F.

1984-01-01

The Quality Assurance/Quality Control activities for nuclear fuel design and manufacturing described here are coordinated under a common ''Quality Assurance System For Fuel Assemblies and Associated Core Components'' which regulates the QA-functions of the development, design and manufacturing of fuel assemblies independent of the organizational assignment of the contributing technical groups. Some essential characteristics of the system are shown, using examples from design control, procurement, manufacturing and qualification of special processes. The experience is very good, it allowed a flexible and well controlled implementation of design and manufacturing innovations and contributed to the overall good fuel behavior. (orig.)

Achievement report for fiscal 1998 on area consortium research and development business, 2nd year. Area consortium research and development (research and development of process-compatible flexible robot technology); 1998 nendo chiiki consortium kenkyu kaihatsu. Kotei tekiogata flexible robot gijutsu ni kansuru kenkyu kaihatsu (dai 2 nendo)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

To increase international competitiveness, the construction of highly productive systems capable of autonomously accommodating changes in manufacturing processes is indispensable. Robot technologies for flexible, robotized manufacturing lines will be established, and robotization will be promoted in industries related with transportation equipment and semiconductor in and near Kumamoto City. Optimization is to be achieved in such processes as IC chip insertion so that piston insertion into a cylinder with but an extremely little gap between them will be performed without scratches on the cylinder walls and that no plastic deformation will occur in the initial lack of positional correspondence. The technological tasks to be carried out include position detection based on visual information and skill making up, micro-force sensor of great precision and flexible force control, coordinated control of different types of robots, flexible handling mechanism, and integration of different techniques based on an information management system. The control of force now being exercised by humans will be reviewed from a new point of view and harmonization will be established between the human endeavor and sensing devices. Conceptual designs will be completed by the fiscal year end, with efforts concentrated on two prototypes, one for assembly lines and the other for IC inspection. (NEDO)

Rapid Response Manufacturing (RRM). Final CRADA report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cain, W.D. [Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Waddell, W.L. [National Centers for Manufacturing Sciences, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

1997-08-28

A major accomplishment of the Rapid Response Manufacturing (RRM) project was the development of a broad-based generic framework for automating and integrating the design-to-manufacturing activities associated with machined part products. Key components of the framework are a manufacturing model that integrates product and process data in a consistent, minimally redundant manner, an advanced computer-aided engineering working environment, knowledge-based software systems for design, process planning, and manufacturing and new production technologies for making products directly from design application software.

Manufacture of disposal canisters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nolvi, L.

2009-12-01

The report summarizes the development work carried out in the manufacturing of disposal canister components, and present status, in readiness for manufacturing, of the components for use in assembly of spent nuclear fuel disposal canister. The disposal canister consist of two major components: the nodular graphite cast iron insert and overpack of oxygen-free copper. The manufacturing process for copper components begins with a cylindrical cast copper billet. Three different manufacturing processes i.e. pierce and draw, extrusion and forging are being developed, which produce a seamless copper tube or a tube with an integrated bottom. The pierce and draw process, Posiva's reference method, makes an integrated bottom possible and only the lid requires welding. Inserts for BWR-element are cast with 12 square channels and inserts for VVER 440-element with 12 round channels. Inserts for EPR-elements have four square channels. Casting of BWR insert type has been studied so far. Experience of casting inserts for PWR, which is similar to the EPR-type, has been got in co-operation with SKB. The report describes the processes being developed for manufacture of disposal canister components and some results of the manufacturing experiments are presented. Quality assurance and quality control in manufacture of canister component is described. (orig.)

Flexible pressure and proximity sensor surfaces manufactured with organic materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fattori, M.; Cantatore, E.; Pauer, G.; Agostinelli, T.; Stadlober, B.; Gold, H.

2017-01-01

This paper presents the design of two large-Area active matrixes on foil for pressure and proximity sensing applications. Frontend circuits based on organic thin-film transistors on foil are laminated with screen-printed PDVF-TrFE piezo and pyro sensors to create the complete flexible sensing

Fully integrated carbon nanotube composite thin film strain sensors on flexible substrates for structural health monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, A. R.; Lynch, J. P.; Kurata, M.; Law, K. H.

2017-09-01

Multifunctional thin film materials have opened many opportunities for novel sensing strategies for structural health monitoring. While past work has established methods of optimizing multifunctional materials to exhibit sensing properties, comparatively less work has focused on their integration into fully functional sensing systems capable of being deployed in the field. This study focuses on the advancement of a scalable fabrication process for the integration of multifunctional thin films into a fully integrated sensing system. This is achieved through the development of an optimized fabrication process that can create a broad range of sensing systems using multifunctional materials. A layer-by-layer deposited multifunctional composite consisting of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) in a polyvinyl alcohol and polysodium-4-styrene sulfonate matrix are incorporated with a lithography process to produce a fully integrated sensing system deposited on a flexible substrate. To illustrate the process, a strain sensing platform consisting of a patterned SWNT-composite thin film as a strain-sensitive element within an amplified Wheatstone bridge sensing circuit is presented. Strain sensing is selected because it presents many of the design and processing challenges that are core to patterning multifunctional thin film materials into sensing systems. Strain sensors fabricated on a flexible polyimide substrate are experimentally tested under cyclic loading using standard four-point bending coupons and a partial-scale steel frame assembly under lateral loading. The study reveals the material process is highly repeatable to produce fully integrated strain sensors with linearity and sensitivity exceeding 0.99 and 5 {{V}}/{ε }, respectively. The thin film strain sensors are robust and are capable of high strain measurements beyond 3000 μ {ε }.

Evaluation of the flexibility of protective gloves.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrabi, Lotfi; Dolez, Patricia I; Vu-Khanh, Toan; Lara, Jaime

2008-01-01

Two mechanical methods have been developed for the characterization of the flexibility of protective gloves, a key factor affecting their degree of usefulness for workers. The principle of the first method is similar to the ASTM D 4032 standard relative to fabric stiffness and simulates the deformations encountered by gloves that are not tight fitted to the hand. The second method characterizes the flexibility of gloves that are worn tight fitted. Its validity was theoretically verified for elastomer materials. Both methods should prove themselves as valuable tools for protective glove manufacturers, allowing for the characterization of their existing products in terms of flexibility and the development of new ones better fitting workers' needs.

High Volume Manufacturing and Field Stability of MEMS Products

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Jack

Low volume MEMS/NEMS production is practical when an attractive concept is implemented with business, manufacturing, packaging, and test support. Moving beyond this to high volume production adds requirements on design, process control, quality, product stability, market size, market maturity, capital investment, and business systems. In a broad sense, this chapter uses a case study approach: It describes and compares the silicon-based MEMS accelerometers, pressure sensors, image projection systems, and gyroscopes that are in high volume production. Although they serve several markets, these businesses have common characteristics. For example, the manufacturing lines use automated semiconductor equipment and standard material sets to make consistent products in large quantities. Standard, well controlled processes are sometimes modified for a MEMS product. However, novel processes that cannot run with standard equipment and material sets are avoided when possible. This reliance on semiconductor tools, as well as the organizational practices required to manufacture clean, particle-free products partially explains why the MEMS market leaders are integrated circuit manufacturers. There are other factors. MEMS and NEMS are enabling technologies, so it can take several years for high volume applications to develop. Indeed, market size is usually a strong function of price. This becomes a vicious circle, because low price requires low cost - a result that is normally achieved only after a product is in high volume production. During the early years, IC companies reduced cost and financial risk by using existing facilities for low volume MEMS production. As a result, product architectures are partially determined by capabilities developed for previous products. This chapter includes a discussion of MEMS product architecture with particular attention to the impact of electronic integration, packaging, and surfaces. Packaging and testing are critical, because they are

Repurposing mainstream CNC machine tools for laser-based additive manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Jason B.

2016-04-01

The advent of laser technology has been a key enabler for industrial 3D printing, known as Additive Manufacturing (AM). Despite its commercial success and unique technical capabilities, laser-based AM systems are not yet able to produce parts with the same accuracy and surface finish as CNC machining. To enable the geometry and material freedoms afforded by AM, yet achieve the precision and productivity of CNC machining, hybrid combinations of these two processes have started to gain traction. To achieve the benefits of combined processing, laser technology has been integrated into mainstream CNC machines - effectively repurposing them as hybrid manufacturing platforms. This paper reviews how this engineering challenge has prompted beam delivery innovations to allow automated changeover between laser processing and machining, using standard CNC tool changers. Handling laser-processing heads using the tool changer also enables automated change over between different types of laser processing heads, further expanding the breadth of laser processing flexibility in a hybrid CNC. This paper highlights the development, challenges and future impact of hybrid CNCs on laser processing.

Uncertainty and the Value of Commitment and Flexibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Claussen, Jörg; Kretschmer, Tobias; Stieglitz, Nils

We address the contested state of theory and the mixed empirical evidence on the relationship between turbulence and vertical scope by studying how turbulence affects the benefits of commitment from integrated development of components and the benefits of flexibility from sourcing components...... externally. We show that increasing turbulence first increases but then decreases the relative value of vertical integration. Moderate turbulence reduces the value of flexibility by making supplier selection more difficult and increases the value of commitment by mitigating the status quo bias of integrated...... structures. Both effects improve the value of integration. Higher levels of turbulence undermine the adaptive benefits of commitment, while having a less adverse effect on flexibility, making non-integration more attractive. We also show how complexity and uneven rates of turbulence moderate the non...

Advanced Process Chains for Prototyping and Pilot Production based on Additive Manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mischkot, Michael

2015-01-01

For many years, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been a well-established production technology used mainly for rapid prototyping. But the need for increased flexibility and economic low volume production led to the discovery of Additive Manufacturing as a suitable fabrication technique (Mellor 2013...

Recipe-Based Engineering and Operator Support for Flexible Configuration of High-Mix Assembly

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoosel, J.P.C.; Bekkum, M.A. van

2017-01-01

Nowadays, manufacturers must be increasingly flexible to quickly produce a high mix of on-demand, customer-specific, low volume product types. This requires flexible assembly lines with operators that are well-supported in their constantly changing assembly task, while producing high-quality,

Integrating Fiber Optic Strain Sensors into Metal Using Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Hehr, Adam; Norfolk, Mark; Wenning, Justin; Sheridan, John; Leser, Paul; Leser, Patrick; Newman, John A.

2018-03-01

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing, a rather new three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, uses ultrasonic energy to produce metallurgical bonds between layers of metal foils near room temperature. This low temperature attribute of the process enables integration of temperature sensitive components, such as fiber optic strain sensors, directly into metal structures. This may be an enabling technology for Digital Twin applications, i.e., virtual model interaction and feedback with live load data. This study evaluates the consolidation quality, interface robustness, and load sensing limits of commercially available fiber optic strain sensors embedded into aluminum alloy 6061. Lastly, an outlook on the technology and its applications is described.

Radiation decontamination of pharmaceutical raw materials as an integral part of the good pharmaceutical manufacturing practice (GPMP)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Razem, D; Katusin-Razem, B [Institut Rudjer Boskovic, Zagreb (Yugoslavia); Starcevic, M; Galekovic, B [PLIVA Pharmaceutical Works, Zagreb (Yugoslavia)

1990-01-01

The microbiological quality of many raw materials used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and adjuvants often fails to meet the standards set by the pharmaceutical industry. Raw materials of biological provenience are particularly susceptible to contamination. This work describes the present situation regarding the microbial load of corn starch. Given the accepted microbiological criteria, irradiation treatment is proposed as integral to Good Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Practice (GPMP). The use of total viable count as a guide for specifying microbial limits for non-sterile materials is supported. Criteria for the choice of dose are discussed. (author).

Radiation decontamination of pharmaceutical raw materials as an integral part of the good pharmaceutical manufacturing practice (GPMP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Razem, D.; Katusin-Razem, B.; Starcevic, M.; Galekovic, B.

1990-01-01

The microbiological quality of many raw materials used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and adjuvants often fails to meet the standards set by the pharmaceutical industry. Raw materials of biological provenience are particularly susceptible to contamination. This work describes the present situation regarding the microbial load of corn starch. Given the accepted microbiological criteria, irradiation treatment is proposed as integral to Good Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Practice (GPMP). The use of total viable count as a guide for specifying microbial limits for non-sterile materials is supported. Criteria for the choice of dose are discussed. (author)

Functional screen printed radio frequency identification tags on flexible substrates, facilitating low-cost and integrated point-of-care diagnostics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Smith, Suzanne

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This work explores the practical functionality of ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags screen printed onto various low-cost, flexible substrates. The need for integrated and automated low-cost point...

Research on TQCS Strategy of Digital Manufacturing Resource Management

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHOU Zude; ZHANG Huifu

2006-01-01

Heterogeneous in nature, digitized manufacturing resources are geographically distributed, and owned by different organizations each having their own resource management policies and different access-and-cost models. In this paper, by means of stateful serviceData, we make manufacturing resources as grid nodes. Considering TQCS requirements of resources in the manufacturing industry, we capture the essentials of grid resource management models and propose the TQCS market model to inquire, browse and use manufacturing resources. The manufacturing resource integration will integrate and organize the manufacture technology resource to form the core manufacture powers.

Integrated and flexible multichannel interface for electrotactile stimulation

Science.gov (United States)

Štrbac, Matija; Belić, Minja; Isaković, Milica; Kojić, Vladimir; Bijelić, Goran; Popović, Igor; Radotić, Milutin; Došen, Strahinja; Marković, Marko; Farina, Dario; Keller, Thierry

2016-08-01

Objective. The aim of the present work was to develop and test a flexible electrotactile stimulation system to provide real-time feedback to the prosthesis user. The system requirements were to accommodate the capabilities of advanced multi-DOF myoelectric hand prostheses and transmit the feedback variables (proprioception and force) using intuitive coding, with high resolution and after minimal training. Approach. We developed a fully-programmable and integrated electrotactile interface supporting time and space distributed stimulation over custom designed flexible array electrodes. The system implements low-level access to individual stimulation channels as well as a set of high-level mapping functions translating the state of a multi-DoF prosthesis (aperture, grasping force, wrist rotation) into a set of predefined dynamic stimulation profiles. The system was evaluated using discrimination tests employing spatial and frequency coding (10 able-bodied subjects) and dynamic patterns (10 able-bodied and 6 amputee subjects). The outcome measure was the success rate (SR) in discrimination. Main results. The more practical electrode with the common anode configuration performed similarly to the more usual concentric arrangement. The subjects could discriminate six spatial and four frequency levels with SR >90% after a few minutes of training, whereas the performance significantly deteriorated for more levels. The dynamic patterns were intuitive for the subjects, although amputees showed lower SR than able-bodied individuals (86% ± 10% versus 99% ± 3%). Significance. The tests demonstrated that the system was easy to setup and apply. The design and resolution of the multipad electrode was evaluated. Importantly, the novel dynamic patterns, which were successfully tested, can be superimposed to transmit multiple feedback variables intuitively and simultaneously. This is especially relevant for closing the loop in modern multifunction prostheses. Therefore, the proposed

On Integrity of Flexible Displays

Science.gov (United States)

Bouten, Piet C. P.

Nowadays two display types are dominant in the display market: the bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal displays (LCD). Both types use glass as substrate material. The LCD display is the dominant player for mobile applications, in for instance mobile phones and portable computers. In the development of displays and their applications a clear interest exists to replace the rigid rectangular display cells by free-shaped, curved or even roll-up cells. These types of applications require flexible displays.

Living in a Flexible Space

Science.gov (United States)

Canepa, Simona

2017-10-01

How long does a space or an object have to last? If in the past an object or a building manufacturing was designed to last as much as possible, nowadays it is designed to have a life related to the time in which it will be used. Flexibility is what characterizes a space, it’s the ability to be variable and adaptable to changes in the lives of users or in relation to the use which these will make over time. The evolution of the labour market, the difficulty of inserting within it and the need to push more and more frequent move today in the trial of living space models increasingly flexible: people, especially young people, are forced to move on territory outlining a new condition to which the flexible nomadic dwellings offer an adequate response, ensuring high functional performance in confined spaces.

A livelock control policy for a flexible manufacturing system modeling with a subclass of generalized Petri nets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C.Q. Hou

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Livelocks, like deadlocks, can result in the serious problems in running process of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs as well. Current deadlock control policies based on the approaches of siphon detection and control, cannot cope with livelocks in a system of sequential systems with shared resources (S4R, a typical subclass of Petri nets that can model FMSs. On the basis of the mixed integer programming method, this study proposes a livelock control policy (LCP that can not only solve the new smart siphons (NSSs associated with livelocks or deadlocks in an S4R system directly, but also make the solved NSSs max′-controlled by adding the corresponding control places (CPs. As a result, an original S4R system with livelocks or deadlocks can be turned into the live controlled one in which no NSSs can be found. The related theoretical analysis and several examples are given to demonstrate the proposed LCP. Compared with the existing methods in the literature, the proposed one is more general and powerful.

Structural design of shield-integrated thin-wall vacuum vessel and manufacturing qualification tests for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Katsusuke; Shibui, Masanao; Koizumi, Koichi; Kanamori, Naokazu; Nishio, Satoshi; Sasaki, Takashi; Tada, Eisuke

1992-09-01

Conceptual design of shield-integrated thin-wall vacuum vessel has been done for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). The vacuum vessel concept is based on a thin-double-wall structure, which consists of inner and outer plates and rib stiffeners. Internal shielding structures, which provide neutron irradiation shielding to protect TF coils, are set up between the inner plate and the outer plate of the vessel to avoid complexity of machine systems such as supporting systems of blanket modules. The vacuum vessel is assembled/disassembled by remote handling, so that welding joints are chosen as on-site joint method from reliability of mechanical strength. From a view point of assembling TF coils, the vacuum vessel is separated at the side of port, and is divided into 32 segments similar to the ITER-CDA reference design. Separatrix sweeping coils are located in the vacuum vessel to reduce heat fluxes onto divertor plates. Here, the coil structure and attachment to the vacuum vessel have been investigated. A sectorized saddle-loop coil is available for assembling and disassembling the coil. To support electromagnetic loads on the coils, they are attached to the groove in the vacuum vessel by welding. Flexible multi-plate supporting structure (compression-type gravity support), which was designed during CDA, is optimized by investigating buckling and frequency response properties, and concept on manufacturing and fabrication of the gravity support are proposed. Partial model of the vacuum vessel is manufactured for trial, so that fundamental data on welding and fabrication are obtained. From mechanical property tests of weldment and partial models, mechanical intensity and behaviors of the weldment are obtained. Informations on FEM-modeling are obtained by comparing analysis results with experimental results. (author)

The impact of cooperation and competition on the performance of flexible decentralized manufacturing networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hu-Song Ding

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Due to the mismatch between the order of costumers and the production capacity resulting from demand uncertainty, product shortages or wastes of production capacity occur. In response, the subcontracting of production among the plants occurs to diminish the influence of this mismatch on expected profits. Using a small-and medium-sized firm industrial district, the decentralized decision-making process for flexibility investment is studied using the cooperative subcontracting mechanism based on a contract net protocol and is compared with centralized decision making on the flexibility investment problem. Through simulation, it is concluded that although flexibility can increase the opportunities to obtain additional orders, the distributed decision-making mechanism increases the competition among plants during the bidding process. Plants should tradeoff these two aspects to make decisions about investments in flexibility.

A Sustainable Outsourcing Strategy Regarding Cost, Capacity Flexibility, and Risk in a Textile Supply Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaheen Sardar

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The textile industry achieves economic benefits through outsourcing to low cost markets. Today, reshoring is an emerging trend due to rising cost and unemployment concerns. This problem is primarily due to an industry-wide focus on economic benefits only. Cost saving is a basic reason for international outsourcing while domestic outsourcing provides capacity flexibility. Moreover, outsourcing risk has a major impact on strategic location of the production destinations. Therefore, the merging of capacity flexibility and outsourcing risk comprises a sustainable outsourcing strategy. This paper suggests a sustainable outsourcing strategy in which a textile manufacturer outsources to international markets for cost savings and outsources to the domestic market for capacity flexibility. The manufacturer reserves some capacity with domestic suppliers, and pays a unit penalty cost if this capacity flexibility is not utilized. The manufacturer seeks minimum risk in international markets. Operational cost, penalty cost, and outsourcing risk are considered to be objective functions. Decisions include the assignment of contracts to suitable facilities, the quantity of each contract, and allocation of reserved capacity flexibility among domestic suppliers. Multi-objective problem of this research was solved using three variants of goal programming. Several insights are proposed for outsourcing decision making in the current global environment.

Free-form Flexible Lithium-Ion Microbattery

KAUST Repository

Kutbee, Arwa T.

2016-03-02

Wearable electronics need miniaturized, safe and flexible power sources. Lithium ion battery is a strong candidate as high performance flexible battery. The development of flexible materials for battery electrodes suffers from the limited material choices. In this work, we present integration strategy to rationally design materials and processes to report flexible inorganic lithium-ion microbattery with no restrictions on the materials used. The battery shows an enhanced normalized capacity of 147 μAh/cm2 when bent.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Transposon and Retroviral Insertions Reveals Preferential Integrations in Regions of DNA Flexibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Vrljicak, Pavle; Tao, Shijie; Varshney, Gaurav K; Quach, Helen Ngoc Bao; Joshi, Adita; LaFave, Matthew C; Burgess, Shawn M; Sampath, Karuna

2016-04-07

DNA transposons and retroviruses are important transgenic tools for genome engineering. An important consideration affecting the choice of transgenic vector is their insertion site preferences. Previous large-scale analyses of Ds transposon integration sites in plants were done on the basis of reporter gene expression or germ-line transmission, making it difficult to discern vertebrate integration preferences. Here, we compare over 1300 Ds transposon integration sites in zebrafish with Tol2 transposon and retroviral integration sites. Genome-wide analysis shows that Ds integration sites in the presence or absence of marker selection are remarkably similar and distributed throughout the genome. No strict motif was found, but a preference for structural features in the target DNA associated with DNA flexibility (Twist, Tilt, Rise, Roll, Shift, and Slide) was observed. Remarkably, this feature is also found in transposon and retroviral integrations in maize and mouse cells. Our findings show that structural features influence the integration of heterologous DNA in genomes, and have implications for targeted genome engineering. Copyright © 2016 Vrljicak et al.

Integrated design and manufacturing for the high speed civil transport

Science.gov (United States)

1993-01-01

In June 1992, Georgia Tech's School of Aerospace Engineering was awarded a NASA University Space Research Association (USRA) Advanced Design Program (ADP) to address 'Integrated Design and Manufacturing for the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT)' in its graduate aerospace systems design courses. This report summarizes the results of the five courses incorporated into the Georgia Tech's USRA ADP program. It covers AE8113: Introduction to Concurrent Engineering, AE4360: Introduction to CAE/CAD, AE4353: Design for Life Cycle Cost, AE6351: Aerospace Systems Design One, and AE6352: Aerospace Systems Design Two. AE8113: Introduction to Concurrent Engineering was an introductory course addressing the basic principles of concurrent engineering (CE) or integrated product development (IPD). The design of a total system was not the objective of this course. The goal was to understand and define the 'up-front' customer requirements, their decomposition, and determine the value objectives for a complex product, such as the high speed civil transport (HSCT). A generic CE methodology developed at Georgia Tech was used for this purpose. AE4353: Design for Life Cycle Cost addressed the basic economic issues for an HSCT using a robust design technique, Taguchi's parameter design optimization method (PDOM). An HSCT economic sensitivity assessment was conducted using a Taguchi PDOM approach to address the robustness of the basic HSCT design. AE4360: Introduction to CAE/CAD permitted students to develop and utilize CAE/CAD/CAM knowledge and skills using CATIA and CADAM as the basic geometric tools. AE6351: Aerospace Systems Design One focused on the conceptual design refinement of a baseline HSCT configuration as defined by Boeing, Douglas, and NASA in their system studies. It required the use of NASA's synthesis codes FLOPS and ACSYNT. A criterion called the productivity index (P.I.) was used to evaluate disciplinary sensitivities and provide refinements of the baseline HSCT

Energy Flexibility in the Power System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Billanes, Joy Dalmacio; Ma, Zheng; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard

2017-01-01

Energy flexibility can address the challenges of large scale integration of renewable energy resources and thereby increasing imbalance in the power system. Flexible power system can provide reliable supply, low electricity cost and sustainability. Various situations and factors influence...... the adoption of the flexibility solutions, such as flexible electricity generation, demand-response, and electricity storage. This paper tries to analyze the current energy flexibility solutions and the factors that can influence the energy flexibility adoption. This paper takes Philippines as case study...... to provide an overview of the current condition of the Philippines’ power system and discuss the energy flexibility in the Philippines’ power system. A further discussion and recommendation is conducted in the end of the paper....

Intelligent Flexible Materials for Space Structures: Expandable Habitat Engineering Development Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Hinkle, Jon; Sharpe, George; Lin, John; Wiley, Cliff; Timmers, Richard

2010-01-01

Expandable habitable elements are an enabling technology for human exploration in space and on planetary surfaces. Large geometries can be deployed from a small launch volume, allowing greater mission capability while reducing mass and improving robustness over traditional rigid shells. This report describes research performed by ILC Dover under the Intelligent Flexible Materials for Space Structures program on the design and manufacture of softgoods for LaRC's Expandable Habitat Engineering Development Unit (EDU). The EDU is a full-scale structural test article of an expandable hybrid habitat, integrating an expandable softgoods center section with two rigid end caps. The design of the bladder, restraint layer and a mock-up Thermal Micrometeoroid Cover is detailed together with the design of the interface hardware used to attach them to the end caps. The integration and design of two windows and a floor are also covered. Analysis was performed to study the effects of the open weave design, and to determine the correct webbing and fabric configuration. Stress analyses were also carried out on the interfaces between the softgoods and the end caps and windows. Testing experimentally determined the strength of the fabric and straps, and component testing was used to proof several critical parts of the design. This program established new manufacturing and design techniques that can be applied to future applications in expandable structures.

Mechanical Integrity of Flexible In-Zn-Sn-O Film for Flexible Transparent Electrode

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young Sung; Oh, Se-In; Choa, Sung-Hoon

2013-05-01

The mechanical integrity of transparent In-Zn-Sn-O (IZTO) films is investigated using outer/inner bending, stretching, and twisting tests. Amorphous IZTO films are grown using a pulsed DC magnetron sputtering system with an IZTO target on a polyimide substrate at room temperature. Changes in the optical and electrical properties of IZTO films depend on the oxygen partial pressure applied during the film deposition process. In the case of 3% oxygen partial pressure, the IZTO films exhibit s resistivity of 8.3×10-4 Ω cm and an optical transmittance of 86%. The outer bending test shows that the critical bending radius decreases from 10 to 7.5 mm when the oxygen partial pressure is increased from 1 to 3%. The inner bending test reveals that the critical bending radius of all IZTO films is 3.5 mm regardless of oxygen partial pressure. The IZTO films also show excellent mechanical reliability in the bending fatigue tests of more than 10,000 cycles. In the uniaxial stretching tests, the electrical resistance of the IZTO film does not change until a strain of 2.4% is reached. The twisting tests demonstrate that the electrical resistance of IZTO films remains unchanged up to 25°. These results suggest that IZTO films have excellent mechanical durability and flexibility in comparison with already reported crystallized indium tin oxide (ITO) films.

Job Creation, Job Destruction and Plant Turnover in Norwegian Manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Tor Jakob Klette; Astrid Mathiassen

1995-01-01

The labour market in Norway, as in other Scandinavian countries, is often claimed to be overregulated and incapable of adjustment to changes in job opportunities. The results presented in this paper suggest to the contrary that in terms of job creation and job reallocation between plants, the manufacturing sector in Norway is surprisingly flexible, and similar to the manufacturing sector in other OECD countries such as the U.S. We show that 8.4 percent of the manufacturing jobs are eliminated...

VIBRATION REDUCTION ON SINGLE-LINK FLEXIBLE MANIPULATOR USING H∞ CONTROL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberd Saragih

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the vibration and position control of a single link flexible manipulator. Robot link manipulators are widely used in various industrial applications. It is desirable to build light weight flexible manipulators. Light flexible manipulators have a variety of applications, most significantly in space exploration,manufacturing automation, construction, mining, and hazardous operation. Timoshenko beam theory is used to derive mathematical model of a flexible manipulator. The dynamic equations of motion are obtained using the Lagrange's formulation of dynamics.The H∞ controller is designed for vibration and position control of the system. Simulations are presented and show that vibration and position control of a single flexible link can be controlled with the designed H∞ controller.

An agent-based peer-to-peer architecture for semantic discovery of manufacturing services across virtual enterprises

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenyu; Zhang, Shuai; Cai, Ming; Jian, Wu

2015-04-01

With the development of virtual enterprise (VE) paradigm, the usage of serviceoriented architecture (SOA) is increasingly being considered for facilitating the integration and utilisation of distributed manufacturing resources. However, due to the heterogeneous nature among VEs, the dynamic nature of a VE and the autonomous nature of each VE member, the lack of both sophisticated coordination mechanism in the popular centralised infrastructure and semantic expressivity in the existing SOA standards make the current centralised, syntactic service discovery method undesirable. This motivates the proposed agent-based peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture for semantic discovery of manufacturing services across VEs. Multi-agent technology provides autonomous and flexible problemsolving capabilities in dynamic and adaptive VE environments. Peer-to-peer overlay provides highly scalable coupling across decentralised VEs, each of which exhibiting as a peer composed of multiple agents dealing with manufacturing services. The proposed architecture utilises a novel, efficient, two-stage search strategy - semantic peer discovery and semantic service discovery - to handle the complex searches of manufacturing services across VEs through fast peer filtering. The operation and experimental evaluation of the prototype system are presented to validate the implementation of the proposed approach.

Flexible fermentation of organically loaded industrial waste waters using a beverage manufacturer as an example; Flexible Vergaerung organisch belasteter Industrie-Abwaesser am Beispiel eines Getraenkeherstellers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganagin, Waldemar; Loewen, Achim; Nelles, Michael [HAWK Hochschule fuer Angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst Hildesheim/Holzminden/Goettingen, Goettingen (Germany). Fachgebiet Nachhaltige Energie- und Umwelttechnik (NEUTec)

2013-10-01

Industrial organic waste water is usually treated directly in an own or public sewage treatment plant which is highly cost-intensive. The anaerobic digestion of those waste waters is sometimes difficult to control. HAWK is working in a project about this topic, where a fixed bed reactor is investigated for the operation as a flexible plant. For this reason a semi-industrial pilot plant was developed and the capability will be tested on several sites. The gas production ought to run according to the companies demands and is integrated in the operation and processes. This flexible plant is specifically designed to deal with small amounts of waste water with low organic components and even sometimes discontinuously loads. This process is tested in a beverage factory. The reactor was implemented in the existing infrastructure and their waste water is treated. The assessment of the measurements shows, that the fixed bed reactor can handle the organic compounds of the waste water very well and reduce them significantly. Even fluctuating loads and a low organic concentration do not harm the process. The effect of power generation is an additional benefit for this system This innovative approach with low energy input and additional profit from the power sale makes the waste water treatment on site as a real alternative to the conventional treatment. (orig.)

Investigation of supply chain integration performance in export-focused manufacturing industry in China and an assessment of a local gymnastic products manufacturer.

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Chong

2008-01-01

The purpose of this dissertation is try to find out the gap between exported-focused Chinese manufacturing industry practice with world-class supply chain integration performance in developed countries. This is helpful to reveal and explain difficulties and obstacles that limit local suppliers to pursue better supply chain performance. A case study is used to analyze performance of a specific Chinese producer�¢����s supply chain and operations management. The results found out that wide...

Plant Layout Analysis by Computer Simulation for Electronic Manufacturing Service Plant

OpenAIRE

Visuwan D.; Phruksaphanrat B

2014-01-01

In this research, computer simulation is used for Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) plant layout analysis. The current layout of this manufacturing plant is a process layout, which is not suitable due to the nature of an EMS that has high-volume and high-variety environment. Moreover, quick response and high flexibility are also needed. Then, cellular manufacturing layout design was determined for the selected group of products. Systematic layout planning (SLP) was used to analyze and de...

Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT): Additive Manufactured Hot Fire Planning and Testing in GRC Cell 32 Project

Science.gov (United States)

Fikes, John C.

2014-01-01

The objective of this project is to hot fire test an additively manufactured thrust chamber assembly TCA (injector and thrust chamber). GRC will install the additively manufactured Inconel 625 injector, two additively manufactured (SLM) water cooled Cu-Cr thrust chamber barrels and one additively manufactured (SLM) water cooled Cu-Cr thrust chamber nozzle on the test stand in Cell 32 and perform hot fire testing of the integrated TCA.

Analysis of the possibility of applying radio frequency identification in the flexible production process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirkov Gligorije I.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS as a complex and stochastic environments require the development of innovative, intelligent control architectures in order to improve flexibility, agility and reconfiguration. Distribution management system addresses this challenge by introducing the optimal process management which is supported by the autonomous control units that cooperate with each other. Most of the existing transport management system, has a lack of flexibility and agility, especially in cases where a large variety of products, a small representation of parts of smaller dimensions. In such cases, the system is insensitive to random ‘ad-hoc’ events. Phase transport parts through flexible manufacturing system can be potentially used to obtain information about the product in order to process management. Radio frequency identification (RFID has been introduced as new technology allows monitoring, identifying and categorizing parts. This paper gives grounds on the flexible cell architecture (FMC and the deployment of RFID devices with the aim of the distribution and tracking of parts. The paper gives an example of setting agent base control architecture FMC.

Influence of Different Container Closure Systems and Capping Process Parameters on Product Quality and Container Closure Integrity (CCI) in GMP Drug Product Manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathaes, Roman; Mahler, Hanns-Christian; Roggo, Yves; Huwyler, Joerg; Eder, Juergen; Fritsch, Kamila; Posset, Tobias; Mohl, Silke; Streubel, Alexander

2016-01-01

Capping equipment used in good manufacturing practice manufacturing features different designs and a variety of adjustable process parameters. The overall capping result is a complex interplay of the different capping process parameters and is insufficiently described in literature. It remains poorly studied how the different capping equipment designs and capping equipment process parameters (e.g., pre-compression force, capping plate height, turntable rotating speed) contribute to the final residual seal force of a sealed container closure system and its relation to container closure integrity and other drug product quality parameters. Stopper compression measured by computer tomography correlated to residual seal force measurements.In our studies, we used different container closure system configurations from different good manufacturing practice drug product fill & finish facilities to investigate the influence of differences in primary packaging, that is, vial size and rubber stopper design on the capping process and the capped drug product. In addition, we compared two large-scale good manufacturing practice manufacturing capping equipment and different capping equipment settings and their impact on product quality and integrity, as determined by residual seal force.The capping plate to plunger distance had a major influence on the obtained residual seal force values of a sealed vial, whereas the capping pre-compression force and the turntable rotation speed showed only a minor influence on the residual seal force of a sealed vial. Capping process parameters could not easily be transferred from capping equipment of different manufacturers. However, the residual seal force tester did provide a valuable tool to compare capping performance of different capping equipment. No vial showed any leakage greater than 10(-8)mbar L/s as measured by a helium mass spectrometry system, suggesting that container closure integrity was warranted in the residual seal force range

Chemical and biological sensing applications of integrated photonics with an introduction to the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics)

Science.gov (United States)

Bickford, Justin; Guicheteau, Jason

2016-05-01

Integrated photonics affords an opportunity to explore novel sensing and lab-on-a-chip concepts. It offers a route to high sensitivity, high selectivity, and low SWaP-C test systems that can be operated autonomously or by minimallytrained field personnel. We'll introduce the topic, discuss possible sensing modalities, and highlight the advantages and limitations of this technology. We'll also introduce the recent American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics), give an overview of its vision and capabilities, how to utilize its Electronic-Photonic Design Automation (EPDA) tools and its Multi-Project Wafer and Assembly (MPWA) services, how to engage in its road mapping efforts, and how to become a contributing member.

CIM [computer-integrated manufacturing]: It all starts with product definition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephens, A.E.

1986-01-01

The logical starting place for computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is at the front end of the production process - product definition. It consists of the part/assembly drawings, material lists, specifications, and procedures. Product definition starts at the design agencies: two nuclear design laboratories (Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) and a non-nuclear design laboratory (Sandia National Laboratories with two site locations). These laboratories perform the basic part design which is then transferred over a secure communications network to the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, where weapon components are produced by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., under contract with the Department of Energy (DOE). Initial Graphics Exchange Specifications (IGES) and DOE Data Exchange Format (DOEDEF) translation software is used to transfer part designs between dissimilar graphics systems. Product-definition data flow is examined both external and internal to the Y-12 Plant. Software developed specifically to computerize product definition is covered as follows: Electronic File Manager (EFM), Manage Design Documents, Distribute Product Definition, Manage Manufacturing Procedures and Product Specifications. Trident II is the first program to beneficially use CIM technologies plant-wide. Prototype software was written to add a layer of user friendliness through multilayer menu selects to enable access to a number of existing application software packages. Additional software was developed and purchased that enables a single personal computer to meet many needs. These product-definition needs include procedures generation, graphics viewing, and office automation. 3 figs

Advancing System Flexibility for High Penetration Renewable Integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milligan, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Frew, Bethany [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhou, Ella [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Arent, Douglas J. [Joint Inst. for Strategic Energy Analysis, Golden, CO (United States)

2015-10-01

This report summarizes some of the issues discussed during the engagement on power system flexibility. By design, the focus is on flexibility options used in the United States. Exploration of whether and how U.S. experiences can inform Chinese energy planning will be part of the continuing project, and will benefit from the knowledge base provided by this report. We believe the initial stage of collaboration represented in this report has successfully started a process of mutual understanding, helping Chinese researchers to begin evaluating how lessons learned in other countries might translate to China's unique geographic, economic, social, and political contexts.

Manufacturing at Nanoscale: Top-Down, Bottom-up and System Engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiang; Sun Cheng; Fang, Nicholas

2004-01-01

The current nano-technology revolution is facing several major challenges: to manufacture nanodevices below 20 nm, to fabricate three-dimensional complex nano-structures, and to heterogeneously integrate multiple functionalities. To tackle these grand challenges, the Center for Scalable and Integrated NAno-Manufacturing (SINAM), a NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, set its goal to establish a new manufacturing paradigm that integrates an array of new nano-manufacturing technologies, including the plasmonic imaging lithography and ultramolding imprint lithography aiming toward critical resolution of 1-10 nm and the hybrid top-down and bottom-up technologies to achieve massively parallel integration of heterogeneous nanoscale components into higher-order structures and devices. Furthermore, SINAM will develop system engineering strategies to scale-up the nano-manufacturing technologies. SINAMs integrated research and education platform will shed light to a broad range of potential applications in computing, telecommunication, photonics, biotechnology, health care, and national security

Manufacturing of large and integral-type steel forgings for nuclear steam supply system components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawaguchi, S.; Tsukada, H.; Suzuki, K.; Sato, I.; Onodera, S.

1986-01-01

Forgings for the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of the pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) 700 MWe, which is composed of seven major parts and nozzles totaling about 965 tons, were successfully developed. These forgings are: 1. Flanges: an outside diameter of 8440 mm and a weight of 238 tons max, requiring an ingot of 570 tons. 2. Shells and torus: an outside diameter of about 8000 mm with large height. 3. Cover dome: a diameter of 6800 mm and a thickness of 460 mm, requiring a blank forging before forming of 8000 mm in diameter and 550 m thick. The material designation is 20Mn-Mo-Ni 5 5 (equivalent to SA508, Class 3). In this paper, the manufacturing of and the properties of such large and integral forgings are discussed, including an overview of manufacturing processes for ultralarge-sized forgings over the last two decades

Manufacturing fuel-switching capability, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-09-01

Historically, about one-third of all energy consumed in the United States has been used by manufacturers. About one-quarter of manufacturing energy is used as feedstocks and raw material inputs that are converted into nonenergy products; the remainder is used for its energy content. During 1988, the most recent year for which data are available, manufacturers consumed 15.5 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy to produce heat and power and to generate electricity. The manufacturing sector also has widespread capabilities to switch from one fuel to another for either economic or emergency reasons. There are numerous ways to define fuel switching. For the purposes of the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS), fuel switching is defined as the capability to substitute one energy source for another within 30 days with no significant modifications to the fuel-consuming equipment, while keeping production constant. Fuel-switching capability allows manufacturers substantial flexibility in choosing their mix of energy sources. The consumption of a given energy source can be maximized if all possible switching into that energy source takes place. The estimates in this report are based on data collected on the 1988 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS), Forms 846 (A through C). The EIA conducts this national sample survey of manufacturing energy consumption on a triennial basis. The MECS is the only comprehensive source of national-level data on energy-related information for the manufacturing industries. The MECS was first conducted in 1986 to collect data for 1985. This report presents information on the fuel-switching capabilities of manufacturers in 1988. This report is the second of a series based on the 1988 MECS. 8 figs., 31 tabs

Manufacturing fuel-switching capability, 1988

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-09-01

Historically, about one-third of all energy consumed in the United States has been used by manufacturers. About one-quarter of manufacturing energy is used as feedstocks and raw material inputs that are converted into nonenergy products; the remainder is used for its energy content. During 1988, the most recent year for which data are available, manufacturers consumed 15.5 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy to produce heat and power and to generate electricity. The manufacturing sector also has widespread capabilities to switch from one fuel to another for either economic or emergency reasons. There are numerous ways to define fuel switching. For the purposes of the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS), fuel switching is defined as the capability to substitute one energy source for another within 30 days with no significant modifications to the fuel-consuming equipment, while keeping production constant. Fuel-switching capability allows manufacturers substantial flexibility in choosing their mix of energy sources. The consumption of a given energy source can be maximized if all possible switching into that energy source takes place. The estimates in this report are based on data collected on the 1988 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS), Forms 846 (A through C). The EIA conducts this national sample survey of manufacturing energy consumption on a triennial basis. The MECS is the only comprehensive source of national-level data on energy-related information for the manufacturing industries. The MECS was first conducted in 1986 to collect data for 1985. This report presents information on the fuel-switching capabilities of manufacturers in 1988. This report is the second of a series based on the 1988 MECS. 8 figs., 31 tabs.

Practical application of game theory based production flow planning method in virtual manufacturing networks

Science.gov (United States)

Olender, M.; Krenczyk, D.

2016-08-01

Modern enterprises have to react quickly to dynamic changes in the market, due to changing customer requirements and expectations. One of the key area of production management, that must continuously evolve by searching for new methods and tools for increasing the efficiency of manufacturing systems is the area of production flow planning and control. These aspects are closely connected with the ability to implement the concept of Virtual Enterprises (VE) and Virtual Manufacturing Network (VMN) in which integrated infrastructure of flexible resources are created. In the proposed approach, the players role perform the objects associated with the objective functions, allowing to solve the multiobjective production flow planning problems based on the game theory, which is based on the theory of the strategic situation. For defined production system and production order models ways of solving the problem of production route planning in VMN on computational examples for different variants of production flow is presented. Possible decision strategy to use together with an analysis of calculation results is shown.

Automation of an energy-autarkic manufacturing plant following IEC 61499; Automatisierung einer energieautarken Fertigungsanlage nach IEC 61499

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerber, Christian; Hirsch, Martin; Hanisch, Hans-Michael [Halle-Wittenberg Univ., Halle (Saale) (Germany). Lehrstuhl Automatisierungstechnik

2009-07-01

The requirements for future manufacturing plants are, beyond others, seamless reconfiguration, autonomy as far as possible as well as easy employment and maintenance for the end user. Within the EnAS project (Energy-Autarkic Actuators and Sensors), the group of the Automation Technology Lab in Halle has challenged the fulfillment of those requirements. Therefore, IEC 61499 compliant distributed controllers have been developed for the demonstrator-plant under particular consideration of reconfigurability. These controllers have been integrated into the process sequences of the demonstrator and afterwards several reconfiguration scenarios have been designed. The building of a Human-Machine-Interface for visualization and reconfiguration of the plant was an essential issue as well. The result is a highly flexible, easily reconfigurable system, which can be regarded as a prototype for automated manufacturing plants of a new generation. (orig.)

Flexible Thermoelectric Generators on Silicon Fabric

KAUST Repository

Sevilla, Galo T.

2012-11-01

In this work, the development of a Thermoelectric Generator on Flexible Silicon Fabric is explored to extend silicon electronics for flexible platforms. Low cost, easily deployable plastic based flexible electronics are of great interest for smart textile, wearable electronics and many other exciting applications. However, low thermal budget processing and fundamentally limited electron mobility hinders its potential to be competitive with well established and highly developed silicon technology. The use of silicon in flexible electronics involve expensive and abrasive materials and processes. In this work, high performance flexible thermoelectric energy harvesters are demonstrated from low cost bulk silicon (100) wafers. The fabrication of the micro- harvesters was done using existing silicon processes on silicon (100) and then peeled them off from the original substrate leaving it for reuse. Peeled off silicon has 3.6% thickness of bulk silicon reducing the thermal loss significantly and generating nearly 30% more output power than unpeeled harvesters. The demonstrated generic batch processing shows a pragmatic way of peeling off a whole silicon circuitry after conventional fabrication on bulk silicon wafers for extremely deformable high performance integrated electronics. In summary, by using a novel, low cost process, this work has successfully integrated existing and highly developed fabrication techniques to introduce a flexible energy harvester for sustainable applications.

3D inkjet printed flexible and wearable antenna systems

KAUST Repository

Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

extremely low cost, to the extent that they become disposable. The flexible and low cost aspects can be addressed by adapting additive manufacturing technologies such as inkjet printing and 3D printing. This paper presents inkjet printing as an emerging new

A CMOS-compatible large-scale monolithic integration of heterogeneous multi-sensors on flexible silicon for IoT applications

KAUST Repository

Nassar, Joanna M.

2017-02-07

We report CMOS technology enabled fabrication and system level integration of flexible bulk silicon (100) based multi-sensors platform which can simultaneously sense pressure, temperature, strain and humidity under various physical deformations. We also show an advanced wearable version for body vital monitoring which can enable advanced healthcare for IoT applications.

A CMOS-compatible large-scale monolithic integration of heterogeneous multi-sensors on flexible silicon for IoT applications

KAUST Repository

Nassar, Joanna M.; Sevilla, Galo T.; Velling, Seneca J.; Cordero, Marlon D.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2017-01-01

We report CMOS technology enabled fabrication and system level integration of flexible bulk silicon (100) based multi-sensors platform which can simultaneously sense pressure, temperature, strain and humidity under various physical deformations. We also show an advanced wearable version for body vital monitoring which can enable advanced healthcare for IoT applications.

Automated packaging platform for low-cost high-performance optical components manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, Robert T.

2004-05-01

Delivering high performance integrated optical components at low cost is critical to the continuing recovery and growth of the optical communications industry. In today's market, network equipment vendors need to provide their customers with new solutions that reduce operating expenses and enable new revenue generating IP services. They must depend on the availability of highly integrated optical modules exhibiting high performance, small package size, low power consumption, and most importantly, low cost. The cost of typical optical system hardware is dominated by linecards that are in turn cost-dominated by transmitters and receivers or transceivers and transponders. Cost effective packaging of optical components in these small size modules is becoming the biggest challenge to be addressed. For many traditional component suppliers in our industry, the combination of small size, high performance, and low cost appears to be in conflict and not feasible with conventional product design concepts and labor intensive manual assembly and test. With the advent of photonic integration, there are a variety of materials, optics, substrates, active/passive devices, and mechanical/RF piece parts to manage in manufacturing to achieve high performance at low cost. The use of automation has been demonstrated to surpass manual operation in cost (even with very low labor cost) as well as product uniformity and quality. In this paper, we will discuss the value of using an automated packaging platform.for the assembly and test of high performance active components, such as 2.5Gb/s and 10 Gb/s sources and receivers. Low cost, high performance manufacturing can best be achieved by leveraging a flexible packaging platform to address a multitude of laser and detector devices, integration of electronics and handle various package bodies and fiber configurations. This paper describes the operation and results of working robotic assemblers in the manufacture of a Laser Optical Subassembly

Detecting Attacks in CyberManufacturing Systems: Additive Manufacturing Example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Mingtao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available CyberManufacturing System is a vision for future manufacturing where physical components are fully integrated with computational processes in a connected environment. However, realizing the vision requires that its security be adequately ensured. This paper presents a vision-based system to detect intentional attacks on additive manufacturing processes, utilizing machine learning techniques. Particularly, additive manufacturing systems have unique vulnerabilities to malicious attacks, which can result in defective infills but without affecting the exterior. In order to detect such infill defects, the research uses simulated 3D printing process images as well as actual 3D printing process images to compare accuracies of machine learning algorithms in classifying, clustering and detecting anomalies on different types of infills. Three algorithms - (i random forest, (ii k nearest neighbor, and (iii anomaly detection - have been adopted in the research and shown to be effective in detecting such defects.

A methodology for designing flexible multi-generation systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lythcke-Jørgensen, Christoffer Ernst; Viana Ensinas, Adriano; Münster, Marie

2016-01-01

An FMG (flexible multi-generation system) consists of integrated and flexibly operated facilities that provide multiple links between the various layers of the energy system. FMGs may facilitate integration and balancing of fluctuating renewable energy sources in the energy system in a cost...... is based on consideration of the following points: Selection, location and dimensioning of processes; systematic heat and mass integration; flexible operation optimization with respect to both short-term market fluctuations and long-term energy system development; global sensitivity and uncertainty...... analysis; biomass supply chains; variable part-load performance; and multi-objective optimization considering economic and environmental performance. Tested in a case study, the methodology is proved effective in screening the solution space for efficient FMG designs, in assessing the importance...

Additive Manufacturing of Wind Turbine Molds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Post, Brian [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Richardson, Bradley [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lloyd, Peter [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Love, Lonnie [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Nolet, Stephen [TPI Composites, Scottsdale, AZ (United States); Hannan, James [TPI Composites, Scottsdale, AZ (United States)

2017-07-01

The objective of this project was to explore the utility of Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) for low cost manufacturing of wind turbine molds. Engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and TPI Composites (TPI) collaborated to design and manufacture a printed mold that can be used for resin infusion of wind turbine components. Specific focus was on required material properties (operating temperatures and pressures, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), thermal conductivity), surface finish (accuracy and coatings) and system integration (integrated vacuum ports, and heating element). The project began with a simple proof of principle components, targeting surface coatings and material properties for printing a small section (approximately 4’ x 4’ x 2’) of a mold. Next, the second phase scaled up and integrated with the objective of capturing all of the necessary components (integrated heating to accelerate cure time, and vacuum, sealing) for resin infusion on a mold of significant size (8’ x 20’ x 6’).

Numerical study and design optimization of electromagnetic energy harvesters integrated with flexible magnetic materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Sang Won [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-05-15

This study presents a new design of an electromagnetic energy harvester integrated with a soft magnetic material. The harvester design optimizes the magnetic material characteristics and the size of a rectangular permanent magnet. The design employs a complete magnetic circuit made of (1) a thin-film soft magnetic material that facilitates a flexible but highly (magnetically) permeable beam and (2) an optimally-sized magnet that maximizes the harvester performance. The design is demonstrated to reduce magnetic flux leakage, and thus considerably enhances both magnetic flux density (B) and its change by time (dB/dt), which both influence harvester performance. The improvement in harvester performances strongly depends on critical design parameters, especially, the magnet size and characteristics of magnetic materials, including permeability, stiffness, and thickness. The analyses conclude that recently-introduced nanomaterials (having ultrahigh magnetic permeability) can potentially innovate harvester performances. However, the performance may be degraded without design optimization. Once optimized, the integrated nanomaterials facilitate a significant improvement compared with a conventional design without integrated magnetic materials.

Numerical study and design optimization of electromagnetic energy harvesters integrated with flexible magnetic materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Sang Won

2017-01-01

This study presents a new design of an electromagnetic energy harvester integrated with a soft magnetic material. The harvester design optimizes the magnetic material characteristics and the size of a rectangular permanent magnet. The design employs a complete magnetic circuit made of (1) a thin-film soft magnetic material that facilitates a flexible but highly (magnetically) permeable beam and (2) an optimally-sized magnet that maximizes the harvester performance. The design is demonstrated to reduce magnetic flux leakage, and thus considerably enhances both magnetic flux density (B) and its change by time (dB/dt), which both influence harvester performance. The improvement in harvester performances strongly depends on critical design parameters, especially, the magnet size and characteristics of magnetic materials, including permeability, stiffness, and thickness. The analyses conclude that recently-introduced nanomaterials (having ultrahigh magnetic permeability) can potentially innovate harvester performances. However, the performance may be degraded without design optimization. Once optimized, the integrated nanomaterials facilitate a significant improvement compared with a conventional design without integrated magnetic materials.

Effects of Thermal Resistance on One-Dimensional Thermal Analysis of the Epidermal Flexible Electronic Devices Integrated with Human Skin

Science.gov (United States)

Li, He; Cui, Yun

2017-12-01

Nowadays, flexible electronic devices are increasingly used in direct contact with human skin to monitor the real-time health of human body. Based on the Fourier heat conduction equation and Pennes bio-heat transfer equation, this paper deduces the analytical solutions of one - dimensional heat transfer for flexible electronic devices integrated with human skin under the condition of a constant power. The influence of contact thermal resistance between devices and skin is considered as well. The corresponding finite element model is established to verify the correctness of analytical solutions. The results show that the finite element analysis agrees well with the analytical solution. With bigger thermal resistance, temperature increase of skin surface will decrease. This result can provide guidance for the design of flexible electronic devices to reduce the negative impact that exceeding temperature leave on human skin.

Design And Implementation Of Integrated Vision-Based Robotic Workcells

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Michael J.

1985-01-01

Reports have been sparse on large-scale, intelligent integration of complete robotic systems for automating the microelectronics industry. This paper describes the application of state-of-the-art computer-vision technology for manufacturing of miniaturized electronic components. The concepts of FMS - Flexible Manufacturing Systems, work cells, and work stations and their control hierarchy are illustrated in this paper. Several computer-controlled work cells used in the production of thin-film magnetic heads are described. These cells use vision for in-process control of head-fixture alignment and real-time inspection of production parameters. The vision sensor and other optoelectronic sensors, coupled with transport mechanisms such as steppers, x-y-z tables, and robots, have created complete sensorimotor systems. These systems greatly increase the manufacturing throughput as well as the quality of the final product. This paper uses these automated work cells as examples to exemplify the underlying design philosophy and principles in the fabrication of vision-based robotic systems.

Configuration Method Design for Reconfigurable Manufacturing System with the aid of Plant Simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Yang; Zhang, Shuai; Bilberg, Arne

2014-01-01

A new Reconfigurable Manufacturing System structure has been recently designed by a large consumer goods manufacturer in Europe, aiming to balance the performance of productivity and flexibility. This article shows an exploratory research on the (re)configuration procedure of the new RMS structure....... Following the procedure which is designed in this paper, the (re)configuration of RMS can be managed as part of the daily operation with the help of computer simulation. Keywords: Plant Simulation, Tecnomatix, Reconfigurable Manufacturing System, modular manufacturing....

Reversibly Bistable Flexible Electronics

KAUST Repository

Alfaraj, Nasir

2015-01-01

Introducing the notion of transformational silicon electronics has paved the way for integrating various applications with silicon-based, modern, high-performance electronic circuits that are mechanically flexible and optically semitransparent

Fabrication of a Flexible Micro CO Sensor for Micro Reformer Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Man Lo

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Integration of a reformer and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC is problematic due to the presence in the gas from the reforming process of a slight amount of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide poisons the catalyst of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell subsequently degrading the fuel cell performance, and necessitating the sublimation of the reaction gas before supplying to fuel cells. Based on the use of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS technology to manufacture flexible micro CO sensors, this study elucidates the relation between a micro CO sensor and different SnO2 thin film thicknesses. Experimental results indicate that the sensitivity increases at temperatures ranging from 100–300 °C. Additionally, the best sensitivity is obtained at a specific temperature. For instance, the best sensitivity of SnO2 thin film thickness of 100 nm at 300 °C is 59.3%. Moreover, a flexible micro CO sensor is embedded into a micro reformer to determine the CO concentration in each part of a micro reformer in the future, demonstrating the inner reaction of a micro reformer in depth and immediate detection.

Enhancing Wind Power Integration through Optimal Use of Flexibility in Multi-Carrier Energy Systems from the Danish Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zong, Yi; Awadelrahman, M. A. Ahmed; Wang, Jiawei

2017-01-01

Denmark’ goal of being independent of fossil energy sources in 2050 puts forward great demands on all energy subsystems (electricity, heat, gas and transport, etc.) to be operated in a holistic manner. The Danish experience and challenges of wind power integration and the development of district...... heating systems are summarized in this paper. How to optimally use the cross-sectoral flexibility by intelligent control (model predictive control-based) of the key coupling components in an integrated heat and power system including electrical heat pumps in the demand side, and thermal storage...

Manufacturing consumption of energy 1991

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-12-01

This report provides estimates on energy consumption in the manufacturing sector of the US economy. These estimates are based on data from the 1991 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS). This survey--administered by the Energy End Use and Integrated Statistics Division, Office of Energy Markets and End Use, Energy Information Administration (EIA)--is the most comprehensive source of national-level data on energy-related information for the manufacturing industries.

Recent advances in flexible low power cholesteric LCDs

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Asad; Shiyanovskaya, Irina; Montbach, Erica; Schneider, Tod; Nicholson, Forrest; Miller, Nick; Marhefka, Duane; Ernst, Todd; Doane, J. W.

2006-05-01

Bistable reflective cholesteric displays are a liquid crystal display technology developed to fill a market need for very low power displays. Their unique look, high reflectivity, bistability, and simple structure make them an ideal flat panel display choice for handheld or other portable devices where small lightweight batteries with long lifetimes are important. Applications ranging from low resolution large signs to ultra high resolution electronic books can utilize cholesteric displays to not only benefit from the numerous features, but also create enabling features that other flat panel display technologies cannot. Flexible displays are the focus of attention of numerous research groups and corporations worldwide. Cholesteric displays have been demonstrated to be highly amenable to flexible substrates. This paper will review recent advances in flexible cholesteric displays including both phase separation and emulsification approaches to encapsulation. Both approaches provide unique benefits to various aspects of manufacturability, processes, flexibility, and conformability.

Design and optimization of flexible multi-generation systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lythcke-Jørgensen, Christoffer Ernst

variations and dynamics, and energy system analysis, which fails to consider process integration synergies in local systems. The primary objective of the thesis is to derive a methodology for linking process design practices with energy system analysis for enabling coherent and holistic design optimization...... of flexible multi-generation system. In addition, the case study results emphasize the importance of considering flexible operation, systematic process integration, and systematic assessment of uncertainties in the design optimization. It is recommended that future research focus on assessing system impacts...... from flexible multi-generation systems and performance improvements from storage options....

New Concepts and Theories For Intelligent Control of Cellular Manufacturing Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Langer, Gilad

1996-01-01

This paper will present some new theories such as biological manufacturing system, the fractal factory theory, holonic manufacturing systems, agile manufacturing, object orientation, multi-agent theory, artificial intelligence, and artificial life in the context of manufacturing systems....... The paper tries to encapsulate the main area of my Ph.D. thesis research which will evolve around the idea of integrating intelligent elements into the control systems of the manufacturing systems. Furthermore it intends to show how the curriculum and discussions of the IPS Ph.D. course will and have...... contributed to my research. The research will concentrate on integration of manufacturing units by use of intelligent control mechanisms, information technology and the material handling as the key integrators....

The integration between Business Model Canvas and Manufacturing System Design

Science.gov (United States)

Prasetyawan, Y.; Maulida, N.; Lutvitasari, M. R.

2018-04-01

Business Model Canvas (BMC) is an increasingly popular business design tool especially for a start-up business and new business player. In general, BMC seeks a balance between effective working patterns with suppliers, good relation with customers and ability to understand and manage internal resources. This balance will expedite the implementation of Manufacturing System Design (MSD). The existing use of BMC and MSD is frequently applied separately at various business levels. BMC business plan is primarily to have engagement with customers and explore potential revenue to increase profits, while MSD primarily aims to meet production targets with available resources. The purpose of this research is to provide a roadmap to align BMC and MSD. A series of simple mathematical (modified) and integration models are created to connect BMC and MSD. Several results in various industries (new, developed and mature) are presented and used as examples of implementation.

Flexible Temperature Sensors on Fibers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcin Sloma

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present research dedicated to the elaboration of novel, miniaturized flexible temperature sensors for textronic applications. Examined sensors were manufactured on a single yarn, which ensures their high flexibility and good compatibility with textiles. Stable and linear characteristics were obtained by special technological process and applied temperature profiles. As a thermo-sensitive materials the innovative polymer compositions filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes were used. Elaborated material was adapted to printing and dip-coating techniques to produce NTC composites. Nanotube sensors were free from tensometric effect typical for other carbon-polymer sensor, and demonstrated TCR of 0.13%/K. Obtained temperature sensors, compatible with textile structure, can be applied in rapidly developing smart textiles and be used for health and protections purposes.

Agile manufacturing and technology transfer to industrialising countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenhuis, H.J.; de Boer, S.J.

2003-01-01

One of the requirements of agile manufacturing, the necessity to gain flexibility, can be reached by using a supplier network. A possible way to develop a supplier network is by subcontracting to parties in industrialising countries. In most cases, it is necessary to transfer technology. The

Market integration of flexible demand and DG-RES supply. A new approach for demand response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warmer, C.J.; Hommelberg, M.P.F.; Kamphuis, I.G.; Kok, J.K.

2007-06-01

In this paper we discuss the shortcomings of traditional Demand Response programs in an environment in which a large amount of distributed generation is available. An innovative approach is given in which true Customer Site Integration is obtained in the spirit of the liberalized electricity market, by making use of the load flexibility of underlying processes of production and consumption devices. The approach is based on distributed control mechanisms and incorporates new market models for distribution and aggregation costs, load losses, and network constraints

Vibration Control of Flexible Mode for a Beam-Type Substrate Transport Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheol Hoon Park

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Beam-type substrate transport robots are widely used to handle substrates, especially in the solar cell manufacturing process. To reduce the takt time and increase productivity, accurate position control becomes increasingly important as the size of the substrate increases. However, the vibration caused by the flexible forks in beam-type robots interferes with accurate positioning, which results in long takt times in the manufacturing process. To minimize the vibration and transport substrates on the fork as fast as possible, the trajectories should be prevented from exciting the flexible modes of the forks. For this purpose, a fifth-order polynomial trajectory generator and input shaping were incorporated into the controller of the beam-type robot in this study. The flexible modes of the forks were identified by measuring the frequency response function (FRF, and the input shaping was designed so as not to excite the flexible modes. The controller was implemented by using MATLAB/xPC Target. In this paper, the design procedure of input shaping and its effectiveness for vibration attenuation in both “no load” and “load” cases is presented.

Robotic system and method for manufacturing of objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

The present disclosure relates to a method and a system for manufacturing a mould (17) for creation of complex objects, such as concrete objects, by controlling and moving two end effectors (1) of a robotic system, the two end effectors (1) having a flexible cutting element (3) attached to and ex......The present disclosure relates to a method and a system for manufacturing a mould (17) for creation of complex objects, such as concrete objects, by controlling and moving two end effectors (1) of a robotic system, the two end effectors (1) having a flexible cutting element (3) attached...... to and extending between the two end effectors (1), the method comprising the steps of: defining at least one surface (8) representing the inner surface of the mould (17); dividing the surface (8) into a number of segments represented by planar curves (9, 11, 12) on the surface (8); for each planar curve...

Flexible eddy current coil arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krampfner, Y.; Johnson, D.P.

1987-01-01

A novel approach was devised to overcome certain limitations of conventional eddy current testing. The typical single-element hand-wound probe was replaced with a two dimensional array of spirally wound probe elements deposited on a thin, flexible polyimide substrate. This provides full and reliable coverage of the test area and eliminates the need for scanning. The flexible substrate construction of the array allows the probes to conform to irregular part geometries, such as turbine blades and tubing, thereby eliminating the need for specialized probes for each geometry. Additionally, the batch manufacturing process of the array can yield highly uniform and reproducible coil geometries. The array is driven by a portable computer-based eddy current instrument, smartEDDY/sup TM/, capable of two-frequency operation, and offers a great deal of versatility and flexibility due to its software-based architecture. The array is coupled to the instrument via an 80-switch multiplexer that can be configured to address up to 1600 probes. The individual array elements may be addressed in any desired sequence, as defined by the software

Drug-printing by flexographic printing technology--a new manufacturing process for orodispersible films.

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, Eva Maria; Schliephacke, Ralf; Breitenbach, Armin; Breitkreutz, Jörg

2013-01-30

Orodispersible films (ODFs) are intended to disintegrate within seconds when placed onto the tongue. The common way of manufacturing is the solvent casting method. Flexographic printing on drug-free ODFs is introduced as a highly flexible and cost-effective alternative manufacturing method in this study. Rasagiline mesylate and tadalafil were used as model drugs. Printing of rasagiline solutions and tadalafil suspensions was feasible. Up to four printing cycles were performed. The possibility to employ several printing cycles enables a continuous, highly flexible manufacturing process, for example for individualised medicine. The obtained ODFs were characterised regarding their mechanical properties, their disintegration time, API crystallinity and homogeneity. Rasagiline mesylate did not recrystallise after the printing process. Relevant film properties were not affected by printing. Results were comparable to the results of ODFs manufactured with the common solvent casting technique, but the APIs are less stressed through mixing, solvent evaporation and heat. Further, loss of material due to cutting jumbo and daughter rolls can be reduced. Therefore, a versatile new manufacturing technology particularly for processing high-potent low-dose or heat sensitive drugs is introduced in this study. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flexible reserve markets for wind integration

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Alisha R.

reserve market, identifying the operational constraints that inhibit a multi-purpose dam facility to meet the desired flexible energy demand. The second study transitions from the hydroelectric facility as the decision maker providing flex reserve services to the wind plant as the decision maker purchasing these services. In this second study, methods for allocating the costs of flex reserve services under different wind policy scenarios are explored that aggregate farms into different groupings to identify the least-cost strategy for balancing the costs of hourly day-ahead forecast errors. The least-cost strategy may be different for an individual wind plant and for the system operator, noting that the least-cost strategy is highly sensitive to cost allocation and aggregation schemes. The latter may also cause cross-subsidies in the cost for balancing wind forecast errors among the different wind farms. The third study builds from the second, with the objective to quantify the amount of flex reserves needed for balancing future forecast errors using a probabilistic approach (quantile regression) to estimating future forecast errors. The results further examine the usefulness of separate flexible markets PJM could use for balancing oversupply and undersupply events, similar to the regulation up and down markets used in Europe. These three studies provide the following results and insights to large-scale wind integration using actual PJM wind farm data that describe the markets and generators within PJM. • Chapter 2 provides an in-depth analysis of the valuable, yet highly-constrained, energy services multi-purpose hydroelectric facilities can provide, though the opportunity cost for providing these services can result in large deviations from the reservoir policies with minimal revenue gain in comparison to dedicating the whole of dam capacity to providing day-ahead, baseload generation. • Chapter 3 quantifies the system-wide efficiency gains and the distributive

Housing flexibility problem: Review of recent limitations and solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine Ritter De Paris

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The economic, technological, and cultural transformations of our present society influence various scales of our daily lives. In housing, these transformations include changes in the family nucleus and the activities performed in living spaces. Housing flexibility seeks to meet the multiple needs of users by changing their living spaces and functions. This study aims to explore housing flexibility through a review of relevant literature, discussion of valuable findings, and presentation of a contemporary panorama of the theme. Notions of flexibility are integrated to reinterpret the contemporary sense of dwelling. However, the lack of a well-defined concept of flexibility hinders the integration of methods and theories on the subject.

Multiphysics modelling of manufacturing processes: A review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jabbari, Masoud; Baran, Ismet; Mohanty, Sankhya

2018-01-01

Numerical modelling is increasingly supporting the analysis and optimization of manufacturing processes in the production industry. Even if being mostly applied to multistep processes, single process steps may be so complex by nature that the needed models to describe them must include multiphysics...... the diversity in the field of modelling of manufacturing processes as regards process, materials, generic disciplines as well as length scales: (1) modelling of tape casting for thin ceramic layers, (2) modelling the flow of polymers in extrusion, (3) modelling the deformation process of flexible stamps...... for nanoimprint lithography, (4) modelling manufacturing of composite parts and (5) modelling the selective laser melting process. For all five examples, the emphasis is on modelling results as well as describing the models in brief mathematical details. Alongside with relevant references to the original work...

Flexible Power Control of Photovoltaic Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blaabjerg, Frede; Sangwongwanich, Ariya; Yang, Yongheng

2018-01-01

With a still increasing penetration level of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, more advanced and flexible control functionalities are demanded. To ensure a smooth and friendly integration between the PV systems and the grid, the power generated by the PV system needs to be flexible...

Nuclear fuel in water reactors: manufacturing technology operational experience and development activities in the Federal Republic of Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzer, R.; Knoedler, D.

1977-01-01

The nuclear fuel industry in the F.R. Germany comprises the full range of manufacturing capabilities for pressurized - boiling- and heavy water reactor technology. The existing manufacturing companies are RBU and Alkem. RBU makes natural and enriched UO 2 -fuel assemblies, starting with powder preparation. Facilites to produce UO 2 -Gadolinia and UO 2 -ThO 2 fuel are also available. Alkem is manufacturing mixed oxide UO 2 /PuO 2 -fuel and -rods. Zircaloy cladding tubes are produced by NRG and MRW. This constitutes the largest single nuclear fuel manufacturing capacity outside the USA. The companies are interested in export and current capacity trends indicate some overcapacity caused by delays in plant schedules. Construction of a new fuel manufacturing plant in the FRG has been announced by Exxon. Supplementary to quality control in manufacturing an integrated quality assurance-system has been established between the reactor vendor KWU, fuel design and -engineering division, and the existing manufacturing companies for fuel and tubing. The operating experience with LWR and HWR fuel dates back to 1964/65 and proves good performance. No generic problems like densification or rod bow were encountered. Possible reasons for the small fraction of defective rods could be quickly identified by a fast feedback system incorporating a close cooperation between KWU and the utilities. KWU combines fuel development, hot-cell and poolside service facilities as well as fuel technology linking to manufacturing in one hand. The common responsibility of KWU for core- and fuel design which enabled an integral optimization was also an important reason for the successful operation and flexibility in design. Development efforts will be concentrated on tests to improve the understanding of power ramping capability under extreme operational and postulated abnormal conditions, on statistical evaluation of safety aspects and on improved economy. The LWR fuel development was sponsored by the

Integration of car-body flexibility into train-track coupling system dynamics analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Liang; Zhang, Qing; Xiao, Xinbiao; Wen, Zefeng; Jin, Xuesong

2018-04-01

The resonance vibration of flexible car-bodies greatly affects the dynamics performances of high-speed trains. In this paper, we report a three-dimensional train-track model to capture the flexible vibration features of high-speed train carriages based on the flexible multi-body dynamics approach. The flexible car-body is modelled using both the finite element method (FEM) and the multi-body dynamics (MBD) approach, in which the rigid motions are obtained by using the MBD theory and the structure deformation is calculated by the FEM and the modal superposition method. The proposed model is applied to investigate the influence of the flexible vibration of car-bodies on the dynamics performances of train-track systems. The dynamics performances of a high-speed train running on a slab track, including the car-body vibration behaviour, the ride comfort, and the running safety, calculated by the numerical models with rigid and flexible car-bodies are compared in detail. The results show that the car-body flexibility not only significantly affects the vibration behaviour and ride comfort of rail carriages, but also can has an important influence on the running safety of trains. The rigid car-body model underestimates the vibration level and ride comfort of rail vehicles, and ignoring carriage torsional flexibility in the curving safety evaluation of trains is conservative.

Thin film transistors for flexible electronics: Contacts, dielectrics and semiconductors

KAUST Repository

Quevedo-López, Manuel Angel Quevedo

2011-06-01

The development of low temperature, thin film transistor processes that have enabled flexible displays also present opportunities for flexible electronics and flexible integrated systems. Of particular interest are possible applications in flexible sensor systems for unattended ground sensors, smart medical bandages, electronic ID tags for geo-location, conformal antennas, radiation detectors, etc. In this paper, we review the impact of gate dielectrics, contacts and semiconductor materials on thin film transistors for flexible electronics applications. We present our recent results to fully integrate hybrid complementary metal oxide semiconductors comprising inorganic and organic-based materials. In particular, we demonstrate novel gate dielectric stacks and semiconducting materials. The impact of source and drain contacts on device performance is also discussed. Copyright © 2011 American Scientific Publishers.

Thin film transistors for flexible electronics: Contacts, dielectrics and semiconductors

KAUST Repository

Quevedo-Ló pez, Manuel Angel Quevedo; Wondmagegn, Wudyalew T.; Alshareef, Husam N.; Ramí rez-Bon, Rafael; Gnade, Bruce E.

2011-01-01

The development of low temperature, thin film transistor processes that have enabled flexible displays also present opportunities for flexible electronics and flexible integrated systems. Of particular interest are possible applications in flexible sensor systems for unattended ground sensors, smart medical bandages, electronic ID tags for geo-location, conformal antennas, radiation detectors, etc. In this paper, we review the impact of gate dielectrics, contacts and semiconductor materials on thin film transistors for flexible electronics applications. We present our recent results to fully integrate hybrid complementary metal oxide semiconductors comprising inorganic and organic-based materials. In particular, we demonstrate novel gate dielectric stacks and semiconducting materials. The impact of source and drain contacts on device performance is also discussed. Copyright © 2011 American Scientific Publishers.

Assessing dust exposure in an integrated iron and steel manufacturing plant in South India.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravichandran, B; Krishnamurthy, V; Ravibabu, K; Raghavan, S; Rajan, B K; Rajmohan, H R

2008-01-01

A study to monitor and estimate respirable particulate matter (RPM), toxic trace metal concentrations in the work environment was carried out in different sections of an integrated steel manufacturing industry. The average RPM concentration observed varied according to the section blast furnace was 2.41 mg/m;{3}; energy optimization furnace, 1.87 mg/m;{3}; sintering plant, 0.98 mg/m;{3}; continuous casting machine, 1.93 mg/m;{3}. The average trace metal concentration estimated from the RPM samples like iron, manganese, lead and chromium did not exceed ACGIH prescribed levels.

Towards Flexible Self-powered Micro-scale Integrated Systems

KAUST Repository

Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto

2014-01-01

Today’s information-centered world leads the ever-increasing consumer demand for more powerful, multifunctional portable devices. Additionally, recent developments on long-lasting energy sources and compliant, flexible systems, have introduced new

Glocalized Production - A Holistic Approach for Future Manufacturing at The LEGO Group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hadar, Ronen

2014-01-01

) and Rapid Manufacturing (RM). RMS is a manufacturing system that is designed for rapid changes. It is based on core characteristics such as modularity, convertibility, customized flexibility, etc.. RM is the use of Additive Manufacturing (AM –commonly referred to as 3D printing) for the production......Global production is changing. Changes in production paradigms, global competition, manufacturing technologies, and new mega trends such as individualization, inflict immense challenges on global manufacturers. A new holistic approach for facing supply chain and production challenges is proposed...... facilities, the establishment of production close to main markets, and the creation of a global network of independent factories and supply chains with local manufacturing. Doing so will potentially increase responsiveness, cut transportation costs, reduce complexity, enable production to demand rather than...

Solution-processed p-type copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) for low-voltage flexible thin-film transistors and integrated inverter circuits

KAUST Repository

Petti, Luisa

2017-03-17

We report on low operating voltage thin-film transistors (TFTs) and integrated inverters based on copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) layers processed from solution at low temperature on free-standing plastic foils. As-fabricated coplanar bottom-gate and staggered top-gate TFTs exhibit hole-transporting characteristics with average mobility values of 0.0016 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 0.013 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, current on/off ratio in the range 102–104, and maximum operating voltages between −3.5 and −10 V, depending on the gate dielectric employed. The promising TFT characteristics enable fabrication of unipolar NOT gates on flexible free-standing plastic substrates with voltage gain of 3.4 at voltages as low as −3.5 V. Importantly, discrete CuSCN transistors and integrated logic inverters remain fully functional even when mechanically bent to a tensile radius of 4 mm, demonstrating the potential of the technology for flexible electronics.

Additive manufacturing for steels: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Zadi-Maad, A.; Rohib, R.; Irawan, A.

2018-01-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) of steels involves the layer by layer consolidation of powder or wire feedstock using a heating beam to form near net shape products. For the past decades, the AM technique reaches the maturation of both research grade and commercial production due to significant research work from academic, government and industrial research organization worldwide. AM process has been implemented to replace the conventional process of steel fabrication due to its potentially lower cost and flexibility manufacturing. This paper provides a review of previous research related to the AM methods followed by current challenges issues. The relationship between microstructure, mechanical properties, and process parameters will be discussed. Future trends and recommendation for further works are also provided.

An integrated DEA PCA numerical taxonomy approach for energy efficiency assessment and consumption optimization in energy intensive manufacturing sectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azadeh, A.; Amalnick, M.S.; Ghaderi, S.F.; Asadzadeh, S.M.

2007-01-01

This paper introduces an integrated approach based on data envelopment analysis (DEA), principal component analysis (PCA) and numerical taxonomy (NT) for total energy efficiency assessment and optimization in energy intensive manufacturing sectors. Total energy efficiency assessment and optimization of the proposed approach considers structural indicators in addition conventional consumption and manufacturing sector output indicators. The validity of the DEA model is verified and validated by PCA and NT through Spearman correlation experiment. Moreover, the proposed approach uses the measure-specific super-efficiency DEA model for sensitivity analysis to determine the critical energy carriers. Four energy intensive manufacturing sectors are discussed in this paper: iron and steel, pulp and paper, petroleum refining and cement manufacturing sectors. To show superiority and applicability, the proposed approach has been applied to refinery sub-sectors of some OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. This study has several unique features which are: (1) a total approach which considers structural indicators in addition to conventional energy efficiency indicators; (2) a verification and validation mechanism for DEA by PCA and NT and (3) utilization of DEA for total energy efficiency assessment and consumption optimization of energy intensive manufacturing sectors

An Overview of Cloud Implementation in the Manufacturing Process Life Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Kassim, Noordiana; Yusof, Yusri; Hakim Mohamad, Mahmod Abd; Omar, Abdul Halim; Roslan, Rosfuzah; Aryanie Bahrudin, Ida; Ali, Mohd Hatta Mohamed

2017-08-01

The advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) has changed the structure and functions of various sectors and it has also started to play a significant role in modern manufacturing in terms of computerized machining and cloud manufacturing. It is important for industries to keep up with the current trend of ICT for them to be able survive and be competitive. Cloud manufacturing is an approach that wanted to realize a real-world manufacturing processes that will apply the basic concept from the field of Cloud computing to the manufacturing domain called Cloud-based manufacturing (CBM) or cloud manufacturing (CM). Cloud manufacturing has been recognized as a new paradigm for manufacturing businesses. In cloud manufacturing, manufacturing companies need to support flexible and scalable business processes in the shop floor as well as the software itself. This paper provides an insight or overview on the implementation of cloud manufacturing in the modern manufacturing processes and at the same times analyses the requirements needed regarding process enactment for Cloud manufacturing and at the same time proposing a STEP-NC concept that can function as a tool to support the cloud manufacturing concept.

Utility of Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) For The Rapid Manufacture of Customized Electric Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Love, Lonnie J [ORNL

2015-08-01

This Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Manufacturing Development Facility (MDF) technical collaboration project was conducted in two phases as a CRADA with Local Motors Inc. Phase 1 was previously reported as Advanced Manufacturing of Complex Cyber Mechanical Devices through Community Engagement and Micro-manufacturing and demonstrated the integration of components onto a prototype body part for a vehicle. Phase 2 was reported as Utility of Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) for the Rapid Manufacture of Customized Electric Vehicles and demonstrated the high profile live printing of an all-electric vehicle using ONRL s Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) technology. This demonstration generated considerable national attention and successfully demonstrated the capabilities of the BAAM system as developed by ORNL and Cincinnati, Inc. and the feasibility of additive manufacturing of a full scale electric vehicle as envisioned by the CRADA partner Local Motors, Inc.

Towards Knowledge Management for Smart Manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Shaw C; Bernstein, William Z; Hedberg, Thomas; Feeney, Allison Barnard

2017-09-01

The need for capturing knowledge in the digital form in design, process planning, production, and inspection has increasingly become an issue in manufacturing industries as the variety and complexity of product lifecycle applications increase. Both knowledge and data need to be well managed for quality assurance, lifecycle-impact assessment, and design improvement. Some technical barriers exist today that inhibit industry from fully utilizing design, planning, processing, and inspection knowledge. The primary barrier is a lack of a well-accepted mechanism that enables users to integrate data and knowledge. This paper prescribes knowledge management to address a lack of mechanisms for integrating, sharing, and updating domain-specific knowledge in smart manufacturing. Aspects of the knowledge constructs include conceptual design, detailed design, process planning, material property, production, and inspection. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a methodology on what knowledge manufacturing organizations access, update, and archive in the context of smart manufacturing. The case study in this paper provides some example knowledge objects to enable smart manufacturing.

Adhesion and failure analysis of metal-polymer interface in flexible printed circuits boards

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sanghee; Kim, Ye Chan; Choi, Kisuk; Chae, Heeyop; Suhr, Jonghwan; Nam, Jae-Do

2017-12-01

As device miniaturization in microelectronics is currently requested in the development of high performance device, which usually include highly-integrated metal-polyimide multilayer structures. A redistribution layer (RDL) process is currently emerging as one of the most advance fabrication techniques for on-chip interconnect and packaging. One of the major issues in this process is the poor adhesion of the metal-polyimide interfaces particularly in flexible circuit boards due to the flexibility and bendability of devices. In this study, low pressure O2 plasma treatment was investigated to improve the adhesion of metal-polyimide interfaces, using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) treatment. We identified that the adhesion of metal-polyimide interfaces was greatly improved by the surface roughness control providing 46.1 MPa of shear force in the ball shear test after O2 plasma treatment, compared 14.2 MPa without O2 plasma treatment. It was seemingly due to the fact that the adhesion in metal-polyimide interfaces was improved by a chemical conversion of C=O to C-O bonds and by a ring opening reaction of imide groups, which was confirmed with FT-IR analysis. In the finite element numerical analysis of metal-polyimide interfaces, the O2 plasma treated interface showed that the in-plane stress distribution and the vertical directional deformation agreed well with real failure modes in flexible circuits manufacturing.

Vertical Scope, Turbulence, and the Benefits of Commitment and Flexibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Claussen, Jörg; Kretschmer, Tobias; Stieglitz, Nils

2015-01-01

We address the contested state of theory and the mixed empirical evidence on the relationship between turbulence and vertical scope by studying how turbulence affects the benefits of commitment from integrated development of components and the benefits of flexibility from sourcing components...... externally. We show that increasing turbulence first increases but then decreases the relative value of vertical integration. Moderate turbulence reduces the value of flexibility by making supplier selection more difficult and increases the value of commitment by mitigating the status quo bias of integrated...... structures. Both effects improve the value of integration. Higher levels of turbulence undermine the adaptive benefits of commitment, but have a less adverse effect on flexibility, making nonintegration more attractive. We also show how complexity and uneven rates of turbulence moderate the nonmonotonic...

Flexible cement improves wellbore integrity for steam assisted gravity drainage SAGD wells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeBruijn, G.; Whitton, S.; Redekopp, D. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Schlumberger Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Siso, C. [ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp., Calgary, AB (Canada); Reinheimer, D. [Schlumberger Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2008-10-15

Cement sheath integrity is an important factor in ensuring the zonal isolation of wells. Significant stresses are placed on the cement sheaths of wells during steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) processes, as the expanded forces from the heating of the well are transferred to the cement sheath, which places a tensile load on the cement at the sheath's outer edge. In this study, a computerized simulation was conducted to examine stresses in a novel flexible cement sheath system during an SAGD heat-up cycle. Wellbore temperature was increased from 10 degrees C to 250 degrees C over a period of 720 minutes. Pressure was increased from 0 MPa to 5 MPa. The finite element model was used to predict microannulus, cement failure in compression, and cement failure in tension. A sensitivity analysis was used to estimate the effect of different parameters as well as to estimate the value of the Young's modulus of the shale. Results of the study showed that temperature and pressure dynamics have a significant impact on stresses in the cement sheath. An extended heat-up period resulted in reduced stresses to the sheath. Lower operating pressures also reduced stresses. It was concluded that pressure and temperature increases should be extended over a long a period as possible in order to reduce stresses. Results suggested that a flexible cement system with a low Young's modulus is suitable for SAGD wells. 8 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs.

Integrated ozonation and biomethanization treatments of vinasse derived from ethanol manufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siles, J.A.; Garcia-Garcia, I.; Martin, A.; Martin, M.A.

2011-01-01

Anaerobic digestion of vinasse derived from bioethanol manufacturing, in which total COD was found to be 68.56 ± 8.17 g/L, was studied in batch laboratory-scale reactors at mesophilic temperature (35 deg. C). The vinasse was subjected to a short ozonation pre-treatment (15 min) in which more than 50% reduction of phenols was observed, although the total organic carbon concentration remained approximately stable, indicating that the phenols were transformed into other simpler forms. The anaerobic biodegradability of raw and pre-treated vinasse was similar, reaching values close to 80% (COD). However, the methane yield coefficient and methane production rate enhanced by around 13.6% and 41.16%, respectively, when the ozonized vinasse was fed. These results indicate that the integration of chemical-biological treatments could be a viable option for the purification of this hazardous wastewater.

Towards a Generic Framework for the Performance Evaluation of Manufacturing Strategy: An Innovative Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tigist Fetene Adane

2018-03-01

Full Text Available To be competitive in a manufacturing environment by providing optimal performance in terms of cost-effectiveness and swiftness of system changes, there is a need for flexible production systems based on a well-defined strategy. Companies are steadily looking for methodology to evaluate, improve and update the performance of manufacturing systems for processing operations. Implementation of an adequate strategy for these systems’ flexibility requires a deep understanding of the intricate interactions between the machining process parameters and the manufacturing system’s operational parameters. This paper proposes a framework/generic model for one of the most common metal cutting operations—the boring process of an engine block machining system. A system dynamics modelling approach is presented for modelling the structure of machining system parameters of the boring process, key performance parameters and their intrinsic relationships. The model is based on a case study performed in a company manufacturing engine blocks for heavy vehicles. The approach could allow for performance evaluation of an engine block manufacturing system condition. The presented model enables a basis for other similar processes and industries producing discrete parts.

Flexible ship loading problem with transfer vehicle assignment and scheduling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iris, Çağatay; Christensen, Jonas; Pacino, Dario

2018-01-01

This paper presents the flexible containership loading problem for seaport container terminals. The integrated management of loading operations, planning of the transport vehicles to use and their scheduling is what we define as the Flexible Ship Loading Problem (FSLP). The flexibility comes from...

Additive manufacturing: state-of-the-art and application framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodrigues, Vinicius Picanco; de Senzi Zancul, Eduardo; Gonçalves Mançanares, Cauê

2017-01-01

Additive manufacturing encompasses a class of production processes with increasing applications indifferent areas and supply chains. Due to its flexibility for production in small batches and the versatilityof materials and geometries, this technology is recognized as being capable...... of revolutionizing theproduction processes as well as changing production strategies that are currently employed. However,there are different technologies under the generic label of additive manufacturing, materials and applicationareas with different requirements. Given the growing importance of additive...... manufacturingas a production process, and also considering the need to have a better insight into the potential applicationsfor driving research and development efforts, this article presents a proposal of organizationfor additive manufacturing applications in seven areas. Additionally, the article provides...

Development of hybrid lifecycle cost estimating tool (HLCET) for manufacturing influenced design tradeoff

Science.gov (United States)

Sirirojvisuth, Apinut

In complex aerospace system design, making an effective design decision requires multidisciplinary knowledge from both product and process perspectives. Integrating manufacturing considerations into the design process is most valuable during the early design stages since designers have more freedom to integrate new ideas when changes are relatively inexpensive in terms of time and effort. Several metrics related to manufacturability are cost, time, and manufacturing readiness level (MRL). Yet, there is a lack of structured methodology that quantifies how changes in the design decisions impact these metrics. As a result, a new set of integrated cost analysis tools are proposed in this study to quantify the impacts. Equally important is the capability to integrate this new cost tool into the existing design methodologies without sacrificing agility and flexibility required during the early design phases. To demonstrate the applicability of this concept, a ModelCenter environment is used to develop software architecture that represents Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) methodology used in several aerospace systems designs. The environment seamlessly integrates product and process analysis tools and makes effective transition from one design phase to the other while retaining knowledge gained a priori. Then, an advanced cost estimating tool called Hybrid Lifecycle Cost Estimating Tool (HLCET), a hybrid combination of weight-, process-, and activity-based estimating techniques, is integrated with the design framework. A new weight-based lifecycle cost model is created based on Tailored Cost Model (TCM) equations [3]. This lifecycle cost tool estimates the program cost based on vehicle component weights and programmatic assumptions. Additional high fidelity cost tools like process-based and activity-based cost analysis methods can be used to modify the baseline TCM result as more knowledge is accumulated over design iterations. Therefore, with this

Additive manufacturing: From implants to organs | Douglas | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Additive manufacturing (AM) constructs 3D objects layer by layer under computer control from 3D models. 3D printing is one example of this kind of technology. AM offers geometric flexibility in its products and therefore allows customisation to suit individual needs. Clinical success has been shown with models for surgical ...

The impact of manufacturing complexity drivers on performance-a preliminary study

Science.gov (United States)

Huah Leang, Suh; Mahmood, Wan Hasrulnizzam Wan; Rahman, Muhamad Arfauz A.

2018-03-01

Manufacturing systems, in pursuit of cost, time and flexibility optimisation are becoming more and more complex, exhibiting a dynamic and nonlinear behaviour. Unpredictability is a distinct characteristic of such behaviour and effects production planning significantly. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the priority level and current achievement of manufacturing performance in Malaysia’s manufacturing industry and the complexity drivers on manufacturing productivity performance. The results showed that Malaysia’s manufacturing industry prioritised product quality and they managed to achieve a good on time delivery performance. However, for other manufacturing performance, there was a difference where the current achievement of manufacturing performances in Malaysia’s manufacturing industry is slightly lower than the priority given to them. The strong correlation of significant value for priority status was observed between efficient production levelling (finished goods) and finish product management while the strong correlation of significant value for current achievement was minimised the number of workstation and factory transportation system. This indicates that complexity drivers have an impact towards manufacturing performance. Consequently, it is necessary to identify complexity drivers to achieve well manufacturing performance.

Gas microstrip detectors based on flexible printed circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salomon, M.; Crowe, K.; Faszer, W.; Lindsay, P.; Curran Maier, J.M.

1995-09-01

We have studied the properties of a new type of Gas Microstrip Counter built using flexible printed circuit technology. We describe the manufacturing procedures, the assembly of the device, as well as its operation under a variety of conditions, gases and types of radiation. We also describe two new passivation materials, Tantalum and Niobium, which produce effective surfaces. (author)

Ubiquitous Robotic Technology for Smart Manufacturing System.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wenshan; Zhu, Xiaoxiao; Wang, Liyu; Qiu, Qiang; Cao, Qixin

2016-01-01

As the manufacturing tasks become more individualized and more flexible, the machines in smart factory are required to do variable tasks collaboratively without reprogramming. This paper for the first time discusses the similarity between smart manufacturing systems and the ubiquitous robotic systems and makes an effort on deploying ubiquitous robotic technology to the smart factory. Specifically, a component based framework is proposed in order to enable the communication and cooperation of the heterogeneous robotic devices. Further, compared to the service robotic domain, the smart manufacturing systems are often in larger size. So a hierarchical planning method was implemented to improve the planning efficiency. A test bed of smart factory is developed. It demonstrates that the proposed framework is suitable for industrial domain, and the hierarchical planning method is able to solve large problems intractable with flat methods.

Technology Clubs and Growth Patterns: Evidence from EU Manufacturing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bos, J.W.B.; Economidou, C.; Koetter, M.

This paper investigates the forces driving output change in a panel of EU manufacturing industries. A flexible modeling strategy is adopted that accounts for (i) inefficient use of resources, and (ii) differences in the production technology across industries. With our model we are able to identify

Improved Methods for Production Manufacturing Processes in Environmentally Benign Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan-Yan Wang

2011-09-01

Full Text Available How to design a production process with low carbon emissions and low environmental impact as well as high manufacturing performance is a key factor in the success of low-carbon production. It is important to address concerns about climate change for the large carbon emission source manufacturing industries because of their high energy consumption and environmental impact during the manufacturing stage of the production life cycle. In this paper, methodology for determining a production process is developed. This methodology integrates process determination from three different levels: new production processing, selected production processing and batch production processing. This approach is taken within a manufacturing enterprise based on prior research. The methodology is aimed at providing decision support for implementing Environmentally Benign Manufacturing (EBM and low-carbon production to improve the environmental performance of the manufacturing industry. At the first level, a decision-making model for new production processes based on the Genetic Simulated Annealing Algorithm (GSAA is presented. The decision-making model considers not only the traditional factors, such as time, quality and cost, but also energy and resource consumption and environmental impact, which are different from the traditional methods. At the second level, a methodology is developed based on an IPO (Input-Process-Output model that integrates assessments of resource consumption and environmental impact in terms of a materials balance principle for batch production processes. At the third level, based on the above two levels, a method for determining production processes that focus on low-carbon production is developed based on case-based reasoning, expert systems and feature technology for designing the process flow of a new component. Through the above three levels, a method for determining the production process to identify, quantify, assess, and optimize the