Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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Systems-engineering a New 4x4 Benchmark
"We set a high target for this program: Create the industry’s most fuel-efficient four-wheel-drive system, with the greatest off-road capability and functionality,” said Mike Kirk, Chrysler’s...
News Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Chrysler's New Hellcat V8 Gets 707-Hp SAE Rating
Powertrain engineers love understatement—as well as a bit of deception. That was made clear recently when Chrysler announced that its new "Hellcat" Hemi V8 will be SAE J1349-rated at 707 hp...
News Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Shape-Shifting Wings to Fly in July
Since the dawn of aviation, airplane designers and engineers have sought elegant ways to smoothly change the shape of aircraft wings in flight like birds or bats do. Rather than using jointed flaps,...
News Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Eaton Names President of Vehicle Group, Asia Pacific
To be based in Shanghai, Krishnakumar “K.K.” Srinivasan was recently appointed by Eaton to the position of President, Vehicle Group, Asia Pacific, reporting to Ken Davis, President,...
Product Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Pump and Motor Series
Formerly part of Haldex, Concentric offers a range of low-noise, high-power density hydraulics products including the compact, durable Ferra pump and motor series designed for high-pressure applications in a space...
News Software
Aisin Appoints New President of Plymouth, MI, Tech Center
A Japan-based engineer with senior management experience in the U.S. has been named President of Aisin Seiki's Plymouth, MI-based tech center. Yoshiaki "Yoshi" Kato assumed the post...
News Materials
Color Multi-Material 3-D Printer
The Objet500 Connex3 color multi-material 3-D printer from Stratasys is the first and only 3-D printer to combine colors with multi-material 3-D printing, according to the company. Suitable for product design,...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Rotating Detonation-Wave Engines
All Navy aircraft and missiles use gasturbine engines for propulsion. Many ships are also dependent on gasturbine engines to generate both propulsive power and electricity. These engines are fundamentally...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thermal Analysis and Microhardness Mapping in Hybrid Laser Welds in a Structural Steel
The concept of combining a laser welding system with a conventional arc welding system (GTAW) was first proposed in order to improve the stability of the laser welding system and to allow greater flexibility in part fit-up. Prior research stated that using a YAG...
Briefs Sensors/Data Acquisition
Encapsulated Ball Bearings for Rotary Micro Machines
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-fabricated silicon rotary elements for micro-motors, micro-generators, and micro-turbomachinery have received growing attention with applications in...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Reverse Pressure Capable Finger Seal
Each finger seal consists of a number of multiple thin metal laminates, each with a multitude of flexible projections that are referred to as “fingers.” To form a functional seal, multiple laminates are...
Products Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Flow Switch
The Model 1100 from Thomas Products (Southington, CT) is an inline flow sensor that monitors insufficient or excessive flow rates of liquids. A magnet-equipped shuttle is displaced at the proper calibrated flow of liquid to actuate...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Reactive Structure and Smart Armor for Future Ground Vehicles
AReactive Structure Technology (RST) is a new class of smart structure that can react to external excitations (such as blast or ballistic impacts) in a carefully designed way using...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Variable-Thrust, Multiple-Start Hybrid Motor Solutions
Interceptor boost propulsion has traditionally been dominated by solid rocket systems due to their responsiveness and high mass fraction capabilities. However, increased costs of handling...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Wheel Force Transducer
Aconcept wheel force transducer has been developed that can measure the forces and moments between a tire and a road on a High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Humvee) driven under off-road conditions. The...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Nozzles for Focusing Aerosol Particles
Several nozzles have been designed to aerodynamically focus aerosol particles into a small-diameter jet, so that individual particles can be illuminated by a laser beam and their light scattering and/or laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra can be measured. An additional nozzle can aerodynamically puff...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Parallel Hybrid Vehicles Using Fuzzy Logic Control
A fuzzy logic controller for hybrid vehicles with parallel configuration was proposed. Using the state-of-charge (SOC) of the energy storage, the driver command, and the motor/generator speed, a set of rules was developed. The fuzzy logic controller can determine the split between the electric...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Membrane Pump for Synthetic Muscle Actuation
A synthetic muscle has been developed that uses inflatable balloons to produce a tensile force from a positive pressurization. Mechanical supply and ducting is used to provide the required pressurization. However, the mechanical supply and ducting that is currently used is limited in several respects. To...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Nonlinear, High-Fidelity, Aeroelastic Analysis for Novel Configurations
Efforts to develop morphing air vehicles with multiple mission capabilities have recently been undertaken by several research teams, including NASA’s Aircraft Morphing program and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Morphing Aircraft Structures program....
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Designing a Sensorless Torque Estimator for Direct Torque Control of an Induction Motor
Induction motors often are the preferred choice among industrial motors due to the modern power electronics that improve their speed control. Vitally...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Eccentric Mounting and Adjustment System for Belt-Driven Devices
This design relates to an eccentric mounting and adjustment (EMA) system for belt driving, or for belt-driven devices, that is installed and operated within the restricted confines of an engine compartment, typically a motor vehicle. It satisfies two essential requirements for...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Lightcraft Propulsion for Launching a Small Satellite
A study of lightcraft propulsion systems in general has led to the conception and analysis of such a system for launching a small (having a mass no more than a few kilograms) satellite into...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Developing Fleets of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have a demonstrated capability to collect valuable data for scientific and military purposes. Historically, individual vehicles have been used. To reduce the overall time and cost of acquiring data over large areas, multiple vehicles must be used. A fleet of...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Stability Analysis of Distributed Engine Control Systems
Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), based on a centralized architecture framework, is being widely used for gas turbine engine control. However, current FADEC is not able to...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Using a Steering Shaping Function to Improve Human Performance in By-Wire Vehicles
Currently, there is a performance issue regarding vehicle control at higher speeds for some indirect-vision, by-wire military vehicles; that is, those vehicles...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Sensing for Controls and Propulsion Health Management in Turbine Engines
Advances in engine performance and reliability require sensor components that operate reliably under extreme engine operating conditions (e.g., takeoff, max thrust) and in...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Water Mist System for Shipboard Machinery Space Fires
Water mist has been determined to be a preferred alternative to Halon 1301 total flooding to extinguish fires occurring in ship machinery spaces and pump rooms, because it is toxicologically...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Axial Field Electric Motor
An axial field electric motor comprises one or more elements such as a rotor mounted for rotation and multiple axial flux permanent magnets carried by the rotor. The axial flux permanent magnets are oriented such that...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Stability of Rotors Supported by Hydrodynamic Film Bearings
The document, "Hydrodynamic Fluid Film Bearings and Their Effect on the Stability of Rotating Machinery" represents a lecture in a series "Design and Analysis of High-Speed Pumps," held in 2006 under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The document introduces the basic...
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