Design for Maintainability: The Innovation Process in Long Term Engineering Projects

When you look over the list of projects you’ve worked on in the last 20 or so years, it’s amazing how many involve fastener problems. Some are relatively easy to solve, especially where careless practices have resulted in fatigue failures. Other problems are much more sophisticated, such as aluminum rivets clamping aluminum sheet metal that failed from galvanic corrosion! In Part 1 of this series, Some Plain Talk About Nuts and Bolts, a Q&A addresses some of the important points connected with common bolting practices.

Heat is energy and its nature is to flow from a state of high excitement to one of low excitement. Heat is transferred from a hot place to a cold place by convection, conduction or radiation. This article explains the three modes of heat transfer and provides simple examples of each. Methods to reduce and increase heat transfer are also presented.

Whether it's turning off lights, idling back process equipment and fixing compressed air leaks to energy audits and installing compressed-air management systems-reducing utility costs can take several forms. As with any project, the return on investment should guide you on the projects that you select.

In 1997-98, the facility was considering replacing the aging (1972-73) high, medium, and low voltage equipment because of several operational and maintenance problems with the breakers. We also were concerned about the overall grounding scheme of the facility. To find out the existing status of the grounding system, we procured architect/engineer (A/E) services to check and confirm the overall validity of the facility-grounding scheme.

The most known concept to define reliability is: "Probability that an asset or system operates without failing during a given period of time under some operation conditions previously established." Sometimes, this concept is wrongly used due to the particular use given to the word failure. For many, failure only means shutdowns, so they construct complex mathematical formulas to calculate shutdown probability without taking into account that a failure also occurs when being inefficient, insecure and costly, having a high rejection level, or contributing to a bad image.

The world is increasingly turning towards renewable energy solutions to combat climate change and create a sustainable future. Solar engineering, one of the most promising fields in this energy transition, taps into the inexhaustible power of the sun. This comprehensive FAQ will delve into the key aspects of solar engineering, answering common questions and shedding light on this pivotal technology.

This article has several related themes. The main purpose is to give an overview of the engineering education process, relating theory to practical application. As part of this overview, I express gratitude to the scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who have guided my own education. This education is the foundation of my engineering career, as my experiences demonstrate.