NOVEL STRUCTURE FOR DISTRIBUTED NUMERICAL CONTROL

Because of an unexpected signal noise within the network or an unpredictedfault with personal computers (PCs), many problems emerge in the implementation of distributednumerical control (DNC) with PCs-based network. To solve the problems, an industrial solution ofinvolving the field-bus technology in DNC communicating area is provided. A kind of advancedField-bus, named controller area network (CAN), is originally developed to support cheap and rathersimple automotive applications. However, because of its good performance and low cost, it is alsobeing considered in automated-manufacturing and process control environments to interconnectintelligent devices, such as modem sensors and actuators. Recently it creates a new role for CANBusin DNC that brings new thinking to DNC. CAN is used as the network platform for connecting machinetools to share information with each other reliably. Additionally, thanks to also applying of'plug-in' technology and a special interface of hardware, this solution exhibits some highcompatibility with different pedigree numerical control (NC) systems, such as Fanuc, Siemens,Cincinnati and so on. In order to improve CANBus for DNC application, a communicating competitionmodel of the basic CAN protocol, called CC model, is then highlighted. This model is able to satisfythe requirements that different machine tools share the communicating bandwidth fairly when theyrun concurrently. Finally the novel view of the latest advancement in CANBus-based DNC incombination with the manufacturing paradigm is also presented.

SYNTHESIS AND THERMAL STABILITY OF NANOCOMPOSITE nc-TiN/a-TiB_2 THIN FILMS

Several nc-TiN/a-TiB2 thin films comprised of nanocrystalline (nc-) TiN and amor phous (a-) TiB2 phases were deposited on Si(100) at room temperature by reactive unbalanced dc magnetron sputtering, followed by vacuum annealed at 400, 600, 80 0 and 1000℃ for 1h, respectively. Effects of B content on microstructure, mecha nical behaviors and thermal microstructure stability have been investigated by X -ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nanoindentation measurements. The results indicated that B addition greatly affected both microstructure and mechanical behavior of nc-Ti N/a-TiB2 thin films. With increasing B content the grain size decreased. A maxim um hardness value of about 33GPa was obtained at B content of about 19at.%. The improved mechanical properties of nc-TiN/a-TiB2 films with the addition of B int o TiN were attributed to their densified microstructure with development of fine grain size. Only addition of sufficient B could restrain grain growth during an nealing. High B content resulted in high microstructure stability. The crystalli zation of amorphous matrix occurred at about 800℃, forming TiB or TiB2 crystall ite, depending on B content. Before that no change in bonding configuration was found.

COMPOSITION EFFECT ON DRY SLIDING WEAR BEHAVIORS OF Ti-B-N THIN FILMS

Friction and sliding wear behaviour of Ti-B-N coatings against AISI440C steel ba ll and WC-6wt%Co ball were studied by using pin-on-disk tribometer along with mi crostructure characterization using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron m icroscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is shown that the wear resistance of film depended on the wear mechanism. In the case of AISI440C steel, adhesive wear were pre-dominant and the wear rate increased sharply to a maximum when N content reach ~38at.%. This might be related to the change of fi lm microstructure and phase configuration, so the least adhesive transfer of tri bo-film was observed. If WC-6wt%Co ball was used, less deformation wear debris w as observed, this was responsible for the rise of wear rate. Despite of differen t wear modes, friction coefficients in both cases were found to depend mainly on the formation and the amount of h-BN phase. Elemental analysis by energy disper sive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that oxygen participated in the wear behavior by reacting with films to form the deb ris comprised of various types of Ti oxide including TiO, TiO2 and Ti2O3 , which increased wear resistance.

Partner selection model and soft computing approach for dynamic alliance of enterprises

Partner selection is an active research topic in agile manufacturing and supply chain management. In this paper, the problem is described by a 0-1 integer programming with non-analytical objective function. Then, the solution space is reduced by defining the inefficient candidate. By using the fuzzy rule quantification method, a fuzzy logic based decision making approach for the project scheduling is proposed. We then develop a fuzzy decision embedded genetic algorithm. We compare the algorithm with tranditional methods. The results show that the suggested approach can quickly achieve optimal solution for large size problems with high probability. The approach was applied to the partner selection problem of a coal fire power station construction project. The satisfactory results have been achieved.