Product reliability is one of the important aspects of product quality. It's dependent on the reliability of every component used in the system. In "Reliability Basic Theories and Applications in Electrical Apparatus," authors Lu Jianguo, Wang Jingqin, Luo Yanyan, and Su Xiuping, colleagues at Hebei University of Technology, present a guidebook to help manufacturers ensure the soundness of their electrical products.

Providing information about how to design, test, and interpret the results, "Reliability Basic Theories and Applications in Electrical Apparatus" gives an introduction to the history of electrical apparatus development and the content of reliability work; expounds on the fundamental knowledge of reliability; discusses the basic theory of reliability sampling, inspection, and design; details the reliability indices, reliability test method, reliability verification test sampling plan, test procedure shows reliability tests for relays, contactors, miniature circuit breakers, residual current operated circuit breakers, low-voltage circuit breakers, and overload relays.

Summarizing achievements from the last thirty years, "Reliability Basic Theories and Applications in Electrical Apparatus" offers a collection of the many standards used in the certification of electrical apparatus, such as relays, contactors, molded case circuit breakers, and miniature circuit breakers.

The "EPCglobal Architecture Framework" is currently the most accepted technical approach to the Internet of Things and provides a solid foundation for building Business-to-Business information networks based on unique identifications of 'things'. Lately, the vision of the Internet of Things has been extended to a more holistic approach that integrates sensors as well as actuators and includes non-business stakeholders. A detailed look at the current state of the art in
research concerning cost and benefit estimations is provided and the limits of Cost Benefit Sharing for RFID-based IT-infrastructures are explained. In this work a market driven evaluation based on sales potential of information is developed. Simple technical means for aggregation of micro values to a billable amount are discussed. The requirements for electronic billing infrastructure are defined and a matching e-billing solutions for an evaluation scenario is presented, providing a technical infrastructure to evaluate and bill product-related information in a future Internet of Things, based on an extended EPCglobal Architecture. Further opportunities and threats are discussed to provide an overview of its future potential. As a result it will contribute to the sustainable success of the Internet of Things itself.

The book is the follow-up to its predecessor Automation, Communication and Cybernetics in Science and Engineering 2009/2010 and includes a representative selection of all scientific publications published between 07/2011 and 06/2012 in various books, journals and conference proceedings by the researchers of the following institute cluster:

IMA - Institute of Information Management in Mechanical Engineering
ZLW - Center for Learning and Knowledge Management
IfU - Associated Institute for Management Cybernetics
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University
Innovative fields of application, such as cognitive systems, autonomous truck convoys, telemedicine, ontology engineering, knowledge and information management, learning models and technologies, organizational development and management cybernetics are presented."

Jung's Personality Theory Quantified fills an urgent need for professionals using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (R) (MBTI) to map it on to the cognitive modes of Jung's personality theory, avoiding potential logical errors in the traditional "type dynamics" method. It furthers Jung's original concepts while placing them on a solid axiomatic basis not possessed by other personality theories. Bringing these quantitative findings to the millions of MBTI users - managers, consultants, counsellors, teachers, psychoanalysts and human resource professionals - will require further education of those already certified to administer the instrument according to type dynamics. For this reason numerical exercises follow most chapters to make the book a source reference for briefer workbooks usable in enhanced certification programs. Backed by quantitative theory and new graphical methods, the pioneering qualitative typology work of Myers and Briggs is thus extended to yield deeper understanding of the vital topics of human personality, creativity and human relations. Jungian psychoanalysts may find Jung's Personality Theory Quantified helpful in organizing complicated clinical information and it can also enhance the work of MBTI practitioners worldwide.

This book provides practical solutions for addressing energy efficiency as a clause term within a charter party contract. For this, upon a reflection of the regulatory craft, it analyzes key concepts of case law, and discusses them together with commercial and economic principles. In this way, the book aims at offering a comprehensive, interdisciplinary view of the chartering process, together with a new approach for safeguarding energy efficiency investments. A special emphasis is given to the maritime industry. Here, the newly developed framework, based on game theory, has been successfully applied to demonstrate the importance of including a clause term in contract negotiation to achieve protection against both an uncertain market and an even more challenging shipping environment. The book not only fills a gap in the literature, covering a topic that has been largely neglected to date, yet it offers researchers and practitioners extensive information to change the chartering process radically.

The scale and complexity of research and practices of open innovation mandate a correspondingly sophisticated form of decision making. Strategic Planning Decisions brings together a number of tools that ease the decision process in technology companies, providing both conceptual frameworks and practical applications.

Innovative approaches are presented such as an ontology-based model where all the relevant aspects of a potential technology are interrelated to provide a comprehensive and logically connected data pool for decision makers. Divided into two sections, Strategic Planning Decisions describe both strategic approaches using the decision tools, and tactical approaches. Some of these tools are expanded while some others are embedded in a model that will lay the ground for practical application. These include:

bibliometric analysis,
ontology,
roadmapping,
lead user, six sigma, and
multi-actor & multi-objective decision making methods

Recent research and relevant theory are balanced with up to date practical applications and hands on techniques making Strategic Planning Decisions ideal for engineers who wish to keep up to date with current ideas in the field of TM. It also provides workable methods for practising managers from all levels who wish to apply a more rigorous approach in their work and consultants concerned with technology assessment and its management."

This book emphasizes in detail the applicability of the Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method to various engineering problems. It is a continuation of the book "Nonlinear Dynamical Systems in Engineering: Some Approximate Approaches", published at Springer in 2011 and it contains a great amount of practical models from various fields of engineering such as classical and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, nonlinear oscillations, electrical machines and so on. The main structure of the book consists of 5 chapters. The first chapter is introductory while the second chapter is devoted to a short history of the development of homotopy methods, including the basic ideas of the Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method. The last three chapters, from Chapter 3 to Chapter 5, are introducing three distinct alternatives of the Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method with illustrative applications to nonlinear dynamical systems. The third chapter deals with the first alternative of our approach with two iterations. Five applications are presented from fluid mechanics and nonlinear oscillations. The Chapter 4 presents the Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method with a single iteration and solving the linear equation on the first approximation. Here are treated 32 models from different fields of engineering such as fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, nonlinear damped and undamped oscillations, electrical machines and even from physics and biology. The last chapter is devoted to the Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method with a single iteration but without solving the equation in the first approximation.

Contents - Preface - Notation - 1 Introduction - 1.1 Polymeric Materials - 1.2 Polymer Processing - 1.3 Analysis of Polymer Processes - 1.4 Scope of the Book - 2 Introduction to the Main Polymer Processes - 2.1 Screw Extrusion - 2.2 Injection Moulding - 2.3 Blow Moulding - 2.4 Calendering - 2.5 Other Processes - 2.6 Effects of Processing - 3 Processing Properties of Polymers - 3.1 Melting and Thermal Properties of Polymers - 3.2 Viscous Properties of Polymer Melts - 3.3 Methods of Measuring Melt Viscosities - 3.4 Elastic Properties of Polymer Melts - 3.5 Temperature and Pressure Dependence of Melt Properties - 3.6 Processing Properties of Solid Polymers - 4 Fundamentals of Polymer Melt Flow - 4.1 Tensor Notation - 4.2 Continuum Mechanics Equations - 4.3 Constitutive Equations - 4.4 Boundary Conditions - 4.5 Dimensional Analysis of Melt Flows - 4.6 The Lubrication Approximation - 4.7 Mixing in Melt Flows - 5 Some Melt Flow Processes - 5.1 Some Simple Extrusion Dies - 5.2 Narrow Channel Flows in Dies and Crossheads - 5.3 Applications to Die Design - 5.4 Calendering - 5.5 Melt Flow in an Intensely Sheared Thin Film - 6 Screw Extrusion - 6.1 Melt Flow in Screw Extruders - 6.2 Solids Conveying in Extruders - 6.3 Melting in Extruders - 6.4 Power Consumption in Extruders - 6.5 Mixing in Extruders - 6.6 Surging in Extruders - 6.7 Over-all Performance and Design of Extruders - 7 Injection Moulding - 7.1 Reciprocating Screw Plastication - 7.2 Melt Flow in Injection Nozzles - 7.3 Flow and Heat Transfer in Moulds - Appendix A Finite Element Analysis of Narrow Channel Flow - Appendix B Solution of the Screw Channel Developing Melt Flow Equations - Appendix C Solution of the Melting Model Equations - Further Reading - Index -

Modelling for Business Improvement contains the proceedings of the First International Conference on Process Modelling and Process Management (MMEP 2010) held in Cambridge, England, in March 2010. It contains contributions from an international group of leading researchers in the fields of process modelling and process management. This conference will showcase recent trends in the modelling and management of engineering processes, explore potential synergies between different modelling approaches, gather and discuss future challenges for the management of engineering processes and discuss future research areas and topics. Modelling for Business Improvement is divided into three main parts: theoretical foundation of modelling and management of engineering processes, and achievements in theory; experiences from management practice using various modelling methods and tools, and their future challenges; and, new perspectives on modelling methods, techniques and tools. Based on the latest achievements in this and related fields, the editors aim to landmark the research map for modelling and management of engineering processes for 2020.

This book examines seven key combinatorial engineering frameworks (composite schemes consisting of algorithms and/or interactive procedures) for hierarchical modular (composite) systems. These frameworks are based on combinatorial optimization problems (e.g., knapsack problem, multiple choice problem, assignment problem, morphological clique problem), with the author's version of morphological design approach - Hierarchical Morphological Multicritieria Design (HMMD) - providing a conceptual lens with which to elucidate the examples discussed. This approach is based on ordinal estimates of design alternatives for systems parts/components, however, the book also puts forward an original version of HMMD that is based on new interval multiset estimates for the design alternatives with special attention paid to the aggregation of modular solutions (system versions). The second part of 'Modular System Design and Evaluation' provides ten information technology case studies that enriches understanding of the design of system design, detection of system bottlenecks and system improvement, amongst others. The book is intended for researchers and scientists, students, and practitioners in many domains of information technology and engineering. The book is also designed to be used as a text for courses in system design, systems engineering and life cycle engineering at the level of undergraduate level, graduate/PhD levels, and for continuing education. The material and methods contained in this book were used over four years in Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) in the author's faculty course "System Design".

This work concerns the computational modelling of the dynamics of partially ionized gases, with emphasis on electrodischarge processes. Understanding gas discharges is fundamental for many processes in mechanics, manufacturing, materials science, and aerospace engineering. This second edition has been expanded to include the latest developments in the field, especially regarding the drift-diffusion model and rarefied hypersonic flow.

Engineering Essentials provides students with a comprehensive and approachable introduction to the engineering profession. The text equips readers with a foundational knowledge base that will support them as they progress in their studies and take more advanced and specialized engineering courses. The opening chapter defines engineering and provides students with an overview of engineering majors and a discussion of key topics. Additional chapters cover engineering measurements and significant figures; engineering units, conversions, and dimensional analysis; and the estimation of errors and approximations. Students learn the way to approach problem-solving as an engineer, as well as how to apply statistics and probability within the discipline. Closing chapters address circuits and Ohm's Law, and provide readers with an introduction to statics and dynamics. Robust appendices provide students with ample labs, exercises, and examples of technical writing for engineers. The second edition features updates for each chapter, as well as a new chapter on dynamics. The lab activities have been updated, and the authors added a new lab activity and homework problems to aid in student retention of the material. Designed to provide students with basic, critical knowledge, Engineering Essentials is well-suited for introductory courses within the discipline.

The innovation economy sets new standards for global business and requires efficient innovation management to plan, execute and evaluate innovation activities, establish innovation capability and coordinate resources and capacities for innovation on an intra- and inter-organizational level. Communication has become a critical factor underpinning successful innovation. As a new communication field, innovation communication facilitates the successful launches of new products and services, the establishment of stakeholder relationships, and the strengthening of corporate reputation in the long-run. Consequently, firms today need to develop a strong portfolio of communication tools as an integral part of their strategic innovation management activities. This new edition mainly concentrates on emerging approaches and methods for integrating communication as part of strategic innovation management. A key theme is the provision of an integrated perspective to bridge the gap between innovation management and communication management at both strategic and operational levels. This book makes an important contribution to this evolving academic domain by providing multiple perspectives on the latest research on innovation communication and strategic open innovation. It also provides guidance for managers seeking to understand the diverse ways by which they can leverage communication to support successful innovation.

This book on constrained optimization is novel in that it fuses these themes: * use examples to introduce general ideas; * engage the student in spreadsheet computation; * survey the uses of constrained optimization;. * investigate game theory and nonlinear optimization, * link the subject to economic reasoning, and * present the requisite mathematics. Blending these themes makes constrained optimization more accessible and more valuable. It stimulates the student's interest, quickens the learning process, reveals connections to several academic and professional fields, and deepens the student's grasp of the relevant mathematics. The book is designed for use in courses that focus on the applications of constrained optimization, in courses that emphasize the theory, and in courses that link the subject to economics.