Innovative reuse options for water treatment plant sludges

Reuse options were investigated for drinking water sludge. Research found sludges could be included with raw materials in brick and cement manufacturing with minimal impact. Poly-aluminium chloride sludge was found to an excellent adsorbent of phosphorus from wastewaters thus indirectly reducing potential algal blooms in our rivers.

Fastener manufacture by the warm forging process

The thesis considers fastener manufacture by the net forging technique in the warm forging temperature range. The work determines the optimum warm forging and billet cropping temperatures which produce the highest quality forgings. The research also quantified the surface quality of small warm forgings.

Solar photocatalytic oxidation system for colour removal in dyeing effluent

The effectiveness of various photocatalysts including titanium dioxide and other oxidants was investigated in a solar powered UV photocatalytic oxidation system for colour removal in dyeing effluent. A semi-empirical constant model and guidelines were developed to assist the design and to evaluate the full scale of the system.

Ultrafine ferrite formation in steels through thermomechanical processing

The main aim of this study was to investigate the critical conditions for the formation of ultrafine grain structures using hot torsion and wedge rolling techniques. In addition, the effect of thermomechanical parameters and steel composition on the critical conditions for ultrafine grain structure formation has been systematically evaluated.

MRP-production planning in agile manufacturing

The research studied a production planning problem in a manufacturing firm. Some production planning software was developed that enabled the efficient and rapid reproduction of an optimum production forecast. Not only was the production cost reduced but a significant length of planning time cn be saved using the software.

Linear-motor based five-axis parallel machine for effective material processing

The aim of the work was to reduce the cost and improve the performance of five-axis machines. The main performance criteria were motion cycle-time and positioning accuracy/precision. A novel machine that utilizes the concept of parallel-kinematics and linear motor technology is proposed, designed, built and controlled for this sake.

Controller area network (CAN) modelling for automotive body control applications

This research details methods to improve upon current worst-case message response time analysis of CAN networks. Also, through the development of a CAN network model, and using modern simulation software, methods were shown to provide more realistic analyses of both sporadic and periodic messages on CAN networks prior to implementation.

Frame rate improvement for the VFX1 headset in virtual reality applications

Concentrates on reducing the processing time to enhance the visual component of the experience in virtual reality. Investigates the use of two co-processing cards, each with their own microprocessor providing parallel processing to the host computer. Concludes that the frame rates of a single computer running the virtual reality system could be improved by up to 35% by the use of parallel processing.

Robust surface practices for sheet metal forming dies

Examines the use of surface coatings in stamping using an overall systems approach. The effects of die coating surface properties on friction, wear and part strain, have been studied in-plant with an emphasis on optimising the tool coating system to provide robust sheet metal forming procedures.

Available energy

A proposed new statement of the second law of thermodynamics - the transformation of energy to work is always inefficient with respect to available energy - is conceptually and pedagogically simpler than historical entropy-based statements. It has assisted in the discovery of a new general characterisation of steady (energy dissipative) states.

Vehicle design for minimum societal harm

A design technique was developed to provide the best protection to all occupants in the real-world crashes that occur on Australian roads. A team of experts from around the world was marshalled to analyse crash data, develop new information on impact injury and a new computer optimising technique for simulation of side impact crashes.

Leaker reduction in low pressure die casting

This research aimed to identify an optimum process in which aluminium cylinder heads can be cast, free from defects such as leakers, inherent to Low Pressure Die Casting. A series of Design of Experiments (DOE's) were performed on the process, which determined significant parameters effecting leaker formation.

Wear in centrifugal slurry pumps

The project improves understanding of wear in slurry pumps. By measuring actual pump wear and microscopically examining worn surfaces, a clearer picture emerged of wear modes and mechanisms for different materials. This enables improved guidelines for material selection and modifications to hydraulic shape that increased pump wear life.

Power, influence and intranet implementation : a safari of South African organizations

Intranets hold great promise as ``organizational Internets'' to allow information sharing and collaboration across departments, functions and different information systems within an organization. Yet not much is known about how to implement intranets. We adapt a taxonomy based on institutional theory and distinguish six broad diffusion drivers that might be considered to sustain the implementation process. An exploratory field study of four intranet implementations was conducted to analyze which drivers were used and the results that were yielded. We draw several conclusions. First, all six drivers were deployed in the analyzed cases. Second, the choice of drivers varied with the level of the intranet (corporate or unit), the implementation stage, and existing organizational practices and contingencies. Third, it seems that the critical drivers are knowledge building, subsidy and mobilization in the early stages of implementation. In the later stages knowledge deployment, subsidy and innovation directives were most commonly used.