Increasing the durability of cylindrical parts of wheelcarms of railway

A description of a new design of a vibrating machine for strengthening the surface plastic deformation of cylindrical long parts, in particular stabilizers of wheeled carriages of railway cars, is given. The main design and technological parameters of the process of vibration – centrifugal strengthening of these parts are outlined. The influence of technological parameters of this hardening process on such basic indicator of hardening processing as depth of hardening is experimentally investigated on cylindrical samples from 45 steel. Mathematical dependences for the choice of optimal values of design and technological parameters of this hardening treatment are given. The list of long cylindrical parts for which vibration – centrifugal strengthening treatment is suitable and effective is outlined, among which torsion shafts of suspension of military tanks, axles of wheels of railway transport, drilling and casing pipes of gas and oil wells.

EYE ON CHINA

Palms have high net carbon gain efficiency Leaf drought tolerance critical in multiple assembly processes in tropical forest communities Chinese venture capital firm Virtus Inspire Ventures invests in Israeli company Gordian Surgical China to revive corn-based ethanol amid record high stocks EMEC to help develop marine energy test facility in China Meet the New SpongeBob: Novel material Separates Oil from Water Scientists reveal transboundary transport and deposition of Hg emission from biomass burning in the Indo-China Peninsula Summer monsoon rain belt in East Asia to shift northward as Planet warms up Study unveils the difference to Western and Indigenous Chinese Pig breeds when their feeds were exchanged Researchers identify a miRNA that promotes Human Treg cell stability under Inflammation Scientists discover ‘Super Material’ that can be used in bulletproof vests and military tanks People with first-episode Schizophrenia exhibit persistent time-based prospective memory deficit within the first year of onset

System Dynamics Modeling of Sensory-Driven Decision Priming

The authors present an empirical investigation and a system dynamics model of human decision priming. Decision priming occurs when initial information creates the expectation that a given decision is appropriate, which speeds up or slows down decision making. A conjunction benefits-and-costs paradigm was used to collect the empirical data, whereas system dynamics techniques were used to create a computational model of decision priming. Decision priming occurred with simulated naturalistic stimuli (i.e., models of military tanks in a desert scene presented in perspective view), the results of which were modeled in a parallel-channels coactive architecture. Simulation revealed that the basic features of decision priming in humans could be simulated with this architecture. Decision priming likely occurs in naturalistic settings. Predictions derived from the model could provide useful information for the design of multimodal or multichannel displays.

Proof Load Testing of Highway Bridges

It is estimated that there are more than half a million highway bridges in the United States. Many of these bridges have deteriorated considerably because of age and inadequate maintenance and inspections, whereas the average daily truck traffic and truck loads have increased. Careful evaluation is required to make rational economic and safety decisions concerning the rehabilitation of each bridge. Proof load testing is an efficient tool that can be used to evaluate the performance of existing bridges. The objective of the study was to ensure the safety of two highway bridges located in Michigan by proof load testing. For the first bridge the design details were not available, and the second bridge had heavy corrosion in the lower flanges of its steel girders. Usually, the proof load level is about twice the maximum allowable load. Allowable loads in Michigan are considerably higher than those in other states. Therefore, military tanks on flatbed trailers were used to achieve the high target proof load levels. These tanks were provided by the Michigan National Guard. Load was increased in several steps, and the strains and deflections in the girders were measured. No sign of distress was observed during the tests. The capacity of each bridge was found to be significantly higher than the analytical capacity.

Computer Aided Design of Split Power Hydrostatic Transmission Systems

Split power hydrostatic transmission systems have been proposed in applications ranging from machine tool drives to military tanks. So far only quite simple arrangements have been considered and the full potential of the transmission remains to be exploited. This paper investigates the design of the split power transmission for a vehicle drive and shows how the transmission characteristics can be matched to the particular requirements of the vehicle duty. The number of design alternatives makes a computer investigation an ideal approach to assess the most appropriate solution in a given application. To enable computer programs describing behaviour of complex transmissions to be easily constructed and altered requires a unified approach to the modelling procedure. The paper describes how such an approach can be used for the evaluation of transmission performance and emphasizes the importance of the computer model in determining the efficiency and fuel economy of the vehicle transmission system.