This book provides a compact history of gears, by summarizing the main stages of their development and the corresponding gradual acquisition of engineering expertise, from the antiquity to the Renaissance and the twentieth century. This brief history makes no claim to be exhaustive, since the topic is so extensive, complex and fascinating that it deserves an entire encyclopedia. Despite its brevity, the book debunks a number of popular misconceptions, such as the belief that the first literary description of a gear was supplied by Aristotle. It disproves not only this myth, but also other peremptory statements and/or axiomatic assumptions that have no basis in written documents, archaeological findings or other factual evidence. The book is chiefly intended for students and lecturers, historians of science and scientists, and all those who want to learn about the genesis and evolution of this topic.

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of intelligent systems such as robots, cyber-physical and embedded systems, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the International Conference on Intelligent Technologies in Robotics (ITR), held in Moscow, Russia on October 21-23, 2019. It covers highly diverse topics, including robotics, design and machining, control and dynamics, bio-inspired systems, Internet of Thing, Big Data, RFID technology, blockchain, trusted software, cyber-physical systems (CFS) security, development of CFS in manufacturing, protection of information in CFS, cybersecurity of CFS. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaboration among different specialists, demonstrating that intelligent systems will drive the technological and societal change in the coming decades.

This book addresses a range of complex issues associated with condition monitoring (CM), fault diagnosis and detection (FDD) in smart buildings, wide area monitoring (WAM), wind energy conversion systems (WECSs), photovoltaic (PV) systems, structures, electrical systems, mechanical systems, smart grids, etc. The book's goal is to develop and combine all advanced nonintrusive CMFD approaches on a common platform. To do so, it explores the main components of various systems used for CMFD purposes. The content is divided into three main parts, the first of which provides a brief introduction, before focusing on the state of the art and major research gaps in the area of CMFD. The second part covers the step-by-step implementation of novel soft computing applications in CMFD for electrical and mechanical systems. In the third and final part, the simulation codes for each chapter are included in an extensive appendix to support newcomers to the field.

This book details the major artificial lift methods that can be applied to hydrocarbon reservoirs with declining pressure. These include: the sucker rod pump, gas lift, electrical submersible pump, progressive cavity pump, and plunger lift. The design and applications, as well as troubleshooting, are discussed for each method, and examples, exercises and design projects are provided in order to support the concepts discussed in each chapter. The problems associated with oil recovery in horizontal wells are also explored, and the author proposes solutions to address the various extraction challenges that these wells present. The book represents a timely response to the difficulties associated with unconventional oil sources and declining wells, offering a valuable resource for students of petroleum engineering, as well as hydrocarbon recovery researchers and practicing engineers in the petroleum industry.

This book describes the fundamental phenomena of, and computational methods for, hydraulic transients, such as the self-stabilization effect, restriction of the Joukowsky equation, real relations between the rigid and elastic water column theories, the role of wave propagation speed, mechanism of the attenuation of pressure fluctuations, etc. A new wave tracking method is described in great detail and, supported by the established conservation and traveling laws of shockwaves, offers a number of advantages. The book puts forward a novel method that allows transient flows to be directly computed at each time node during a transient process, and explains the differences and relations between the rigid and elastic water column theories. To facilitate their use in hydropower applications, the characteristics of pumps and turbines are provided in suitable forms and examples. The book offers a valuable reference guide for engineers and scientists, helping them make transient computations for their own programming, while also contributing to the final standardization of methods for transient computations.

Since the inception of windpower around 1000 AD, technology has been deployed to obtain the most economical power from wind. The author traces its technical evolution, concentrating on the growth in understanding of wind and charting crucial developments in windmill design. The history of the windmill focuses on North Western Europe, but Hills indicates the origins of the first horizontal windmills in Persia, Tibet and China. He also examines industrial applications such as in textiles, papermaking and mining. The book concludes with a look at the recent reemergence of windpower as a viable source of power in the wake of the energy crisis.

This book presents a comprehensive study of all important aspects of tribology. It covers issues and their remedies adopted by researchers working on automobile systems. The book is broadly divided in to three sections, viz. (i) new materials for automotive applications, (ii) new lubricants for automotive applications, and (iii) impact of surface morphologies for automotive applications. The rationale for this division is to provide a comprehensive and categorical review of the developments in automotive tribology. The book covers tribological aspects of engines, and also discusses influence of new materials, such as natural fibers, metal foam materials, natural fiber reinforced polymer composites, carbon fiber/silicon nitride polymer composites and aluminium matrix composites. The book also looks at grease lubrication, effectiveness and sustainability of solid/liquid additives in lubrication, and usage of biolubricants. In the last section the book focuses on brake pad materials, shot peening method, surface texturing, magnetic rheological fluid for smart automobile brake and clutch systems, and application of tribology in automobile systems. This book will be of interest to students, researchers, and professionals from the automotive industry.

This book presents central problems in the design, research and maintenance of large-size mining machines for open pits, mobile earth-moving machinery, hydraulic hammers for mining and civil engineering, and screening processes for bulk materials. It brings together the insights of numerous respected academics to offer a thorough and multifaceted overview of the topic. The first few chapters of the book deal with specific problems that frequently occur in machinery for open-pit mining. They focus on the resilience of large-size mining machines, degradation of steels used for supporting structures, and modelling of large-size rotary joints, as well as the noise hazards in connection with degradation processes. The book then moves on to discuss problems arising in earth-moving machinery, such as new approaches to the assessment of operation and maintenance, dynamic loads in front-end loader booms, and synchronic transfer of power from the engine to the driven wheels. The book concludes by discussing hydraulic hammers for mining and civil engineering, and screening processes for bulk materials that combine a vibroscreen with additional feed elements. The book is primarily intended for undergraduate and graduate mechanical engineering courses, but will also be of interest to researchers and mechanical engineers.

Due to the improvements on electric motors and motor control technology, alternative vehicle power system layouts have been considered. One of the latest is known as distributed drive electric vehicles (DDEVs), which consist of four motors that are integrated into each drive and can be independently controllable. Such an innovative design provides packaging advantages, including short transmission chain, fast and accurate torque response, and so on. Based on these advantages and features, this book takes stability and energy-saving as cut-in points, and conducts investigations from the aspects of Vehicle State Estimation, Direct Yaw Moment Control (DYC), Control Allocation (CA). Moreover, lots of advanced algorithms, such as general regression neural network, adaptive sliding mode control-based optimization, as well as genetic algorithms, are applied for a better control performance.

This book develops and substantiates methods for structural mathematical modeling in the context of protecting machines and equipment from vibration effects. It analyzes problems concerning the dynamic interactions of elements in mechanical oscillatory systems, constructing suitable mathematical models, estimating their dynamic properties, and adapting structural mathematical models to the equivalent forms. In turn, it develops a methodological basis for identifying the lever linkages and taking into account the peculiarities of their influence on the dynamic properties of systems. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for specialists in the fields of dynamics and strength of machines, vibration protection systems for equipment, and maintenance of the dynamic quality of vibrating machines, as well as students in related degree programs.

Rotating Machinery, Optical Methods & Scanning LDV Methods, Volume 6: Proceedings of the 37th IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2019, the sixth volume of eight from the Conference brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Health Monitoring, including papers on:Novel Techniques Optical Methods, Scanning LDV Methods Photogrammetry & DIC Rotating Machinery

This book reports on cutting-edge research and technical achievements in the field of hydraulic drives. The chapters, selected from contributions presented at the International Scientific-Technical Conference on Hydraulic and Pneumatic Drives and Controls, NSHP 2020, held on October 21-23, 2020, in Trzebieszowice, Poland, cover a wide range of topics such as theoretical advances in fluid technology, work machines in mining, construction, marine and manufacturing industry, and practical issues relating to the application and operation of hydraulic drives. Further topics include: safety and environmental issues associated with the use of machines with hydraulic drive, and new materials in design of hydraulic components. A special emphasis is given to new solutions for hydraulic components and systems as well as to the identification of phenomena and processes occurring during the operation of hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

To drastically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, the development of future internal combustion engines will be strictly linked to the development of CO2 neutral fuels (e.g. biofuels and e-fuels). This evolution implies an increase in development complexity, which needs the support of engine 3D-CFD simulations. Francesco Cupo presents approaches to accurately describe fuel characteristics and knock occurrence in SI engines, thus improving the current simulation capability in investigating alternative fuels and innovative combustion processes. The developed models are successfully used to investigate the influence of ethanol-based fuels and water injection strategies on knock occurrence and to conduct a virtual fuel design for and engine operating with the innovative SACI combustion strategy.

The volume is dedicated to the electric car. It examines the extent to which the electric car can contribute to sustainable transport development as part of a new mobility culture. The technical, cultural, political, social and aesthetic dimensions are considered. It will be shown how the general social framework has to change in order to make the electric car a success.This book is a translation of the original German edition "Das Elektroauto" by "Marcus Keichel", published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden in 2013. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.

This book focuses on surface layers fracture of cyclical contacting bodies (machine parts). Calculation models and calculating procedures of stress-strain states of cyclically contacting solids with cracks, are included. Recommendations for the optimization of operating parameters of joints (contact stresses magnitude, friction/lubrication conditions, materials crack resistance etc) for elements of rolling pairs (wheel-rail systems, backup roll - working roll of rolling mills etc.) and some fretting pairs are formulated.

This book comprises select peer-reviewed proceedings of the 26th National Conference on IC Engines and Combustion (NCICEC) 2019 which was organised by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra under the aegis of The Combustion Institute-Indian Section (CIIS). The book covers latest research and developments in the areas of combustion and propulsion, exhaust emissions, gas turbines, hybrid vehicles, IC engines, and alternative fuels. The contents include theoretical and numerical tools applied to a wide range of combustion problems, and also discusses their applications. This book can be a good reference for engineers, educators and researchers working in the area of IC engines and combustion.

This book deals with in-cylinder pressure measurement and its post-processing for combustion quality analysis of conventional and advanced reciprocating engines. It offers insight into knocking and combustion stability analysis techniques and algorithms in SI, CI, and LTC engines, and places special emphasis on the digital signal processing of in-cylinder pressure signal for online and offline applications. The text gives a detailed description on sensors for combustion measurement, data acquisition, and methods for estimation of performance and combustion parameters. The information provided in this book enhances readers' basic knowledge of engine combustion diagnostics and serves as a comprehensive, ready reference for a broad audience including graduate students, course instructors, researchers, and practicing engineers in the automotive, oil and other industries concerned with internal combustion engines.

This book examines an intelligent system for the inspection planning of prismatic parts on coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). The content focuses on four main elements: the engineering ontology, the model of inspection planning for prismatic parts on CMMs, the optimisation model of the measuring path based on an ant-colony approach, and the model of probe configuration and setup planning based on a genetic algorithm. The model of inspection planning for CMMs developed here addresses inspection feature construction, the sampling strategy, probe accessibility analysis, automated collision-free operation, and probe path planning. The proposed model offers a novel approach to intelligent inspection, while also minimizing human involvement (and thus the risk of human error) through intelligent planning of the probe configuration and part setup. The advantages of this approach include: reduced preparation times due to the automatic generation of a measuring protocol; potential optimisation of the measuring probe path, i.e., less time needed for the actual measurement; and increased planning process autonomy through minimal human involvement in the setup analysis and probe configuration.

Thermodynamics is a subject that all engineering students have to face and that most of them treat with great respect. This makes it all the more important to offer a good and easy-to-understand approach to the laws of energy conversion. This is what this textbook is intended to do: It covers the basics of classical technical thermodynamics as they are typically taught at universities: The first and second law of thermodynamics as well as equations of state are explained for idealized and real fluids which are subject to a phase change. Thermodynamic mixtures, e.g. humid air, are treated as well as chemical reactions. Components and thermodynamic cycle that convert energy are presented. The book attaches great importance to drawings and illustrations, which should make it easier to comprehend complex matter. Technical applications and apparatus are presented and explained. Numerous exercises and examples conclude the book and contribute to a better understanding of the theory.

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations and applications in the field of cable robots, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the 4th International Conference on Cable-Driven Parallel Robots (CableCon 2019), held in Krakow, Poland on June 30-July 4, 2019, as part of the 5th IFToMM World Congress. It covers the theory and applications of cable-driven parallel robots, including their classification, kinematics and singularity analysis, workspace, statics and dynamics, cable modeling and technologies, control and calibration, design methodologies, hardware development, experimental evaluation and prototypes, as well as application reports and new application concepts. The contributions, which were selected through a rigorous international peer-review process, share exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster new multidisciplinary collaborations.

This book comprises select proceedings of the International Conference on Futuristic Trends in Materials and Manufacturing (ICFTMM 2018). The volume covers current research findings in conventional and non-conventional manufacturing processes. Different fabrication processes of polymer based materials and advanced materials are discussed in this book. In addition, the book also discusses computer based manufacturing processes, and sustainable and green manufacturing technologies. The contents of this book will be useful for students, academicians, and researchers working in the field of manufacturing related fields.

This book focuses on the performance and application of fluidic nozzle throats for solid rocket motors, discussing their flow details and characterization performance, as well as the influence of the particle phase on their performance. It comprehensively covers a range of fluidic nozzle throats in solid rocket motors and is richly illustrated with impressive figures and full-color photographs. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers in the fields of aeronautics, astronautics and related industries wishing to understand the fundamentals and theories of fluidic nozzle throats and engage in fluidic nozzle throat analysis and design.

This volume comprises select papers presented at the International Conference on Advances in Manufacturing Technology (ICAMT 2018). It includes contributions from different researchers and practitioners working in the field of advanced manufacturing technology. This book covers diverse topics of contemporary manufacturing technology including material processes, machine tools, cutting tools, robotics and automation, manufacturing systems, optimization technologies, 3D scanning and re-engineering, and 3D printing. Computer applications in design, analysis, and simulation tools for solving manufacturing problems at various levels starting from material designs to complex manufacturing systems are also discussed. This book will be useful for students, researchers, and practitioners working in the field of manufacturing technology.

Robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics is rapidly expanding into human en- ronments and vigorously engaged in its new challenges. Interacting with, assi- ing, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. Beyond its impact on physical robots, the body of knowledge robotics has p- duced is revealing a much wider range of applications reaching across diverse research areas and scientific disciplines, such as: biomechanics, haptics, neuros- ences, virtual simulation, animation, surgery, and sensor networks among others. In return, the challenges of the new emerging areas are proving an abundant source of stimulation and insights for the field of robotics. It is indeed at the int- section of disciplines that the most striking advances happen. The Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is devoted to bringing to the research community the latest advances in the robotics field on the basis of their significance and quality. Through a wide and timely dissemination of critical - search developments in robotics, our objective with this series is to promote more exchanges and collaborations among the researchers in the community and c- tribute to further advancements in this rapidly growing field.

This book presents selected papers from the International Conference of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering 2019 (AeroMech 2019), held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia's School of Aerospace Engineering. Sharing new innovations and discoveries concerning the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), with a focus on 3D printing, big data analytics, Internet of Things, advanced human-machine interfaces, smart sensors and location detection technologies, it will appeal to mechanical and aerospace engineers.