Procurement in Project Implementation

Tutkimus keskittyy hankintatoimen kehittämiseen osana laitosprojektien toteutusta. Työ pohjautuu empiiriseltä taustaltaan Pöyry Oyj:n projektiliiketoimintaan ja työn tarkastelunäkökulmaksi onvalittu projektihallinnosta vastaavan yrityksen näkökulma. Tutkimus on hyvin käytännönläheinen ¿ se lähtee hankinnan ja sen seurannan ongelmista ja pyrkii tarjoamaan niihin uudenlaisia ratkaisuja. Pohjimmiltaan tutkimus kuuluu teollisuustalouden piiriin, vaikka tietojärjestelmätieteellä on vahva tukirooli. Työn tavoitteet ja tulokset liittyvät teollisuustaloudelle ominaisesti yrityksen toiminnan kehittämiseen, käytetyt välineet ja ratkaisut puolestaan hyödyntävät tietojärjestelmätieteen antamia mahdollisuuksia. Tutkimuksessa on käytetty konstruktiivista tutkimusotetta, jonka mukaisesti on luotu innovatiivisia konstruktioita ratkaisemaan aitoja reaalimaailman ongelmia ja tätä kautta tuotettu kontribuutioita teollisuustaloudelle. Tavoitteena oli järjestää hankintatoimi ja sen seuranta suurissa laitosprojekteissa tehokkaammin. Tätä varten uudistettiin ensin projektihallinnon ja hankintatoimen toimintaohjeet vastaamaan paremmin nykyajan vaatimuksia. Toimintaohjeiden perusteella ryhdyttiin toteuttamaan hankintaohjelmistoa, joka pystyisi kattamaan kaikki toimintaohjeissa kuvatut piirteet. Lopulta hankintaohjelmisto toi mukanaan uusia piirteitä projektihallintoon ja hankintatoimeen ja nämä sisällytettiin toimintaohjeisiin. Tähän kehitystyöhön ryhdyttiin, jotta laitosprojektien projektihallinto ja hankintatoimi toimisivat paremmin, eli pienemmin kustannuksin tuottaen projekteissa tarvittavat tulokset nopeammin, tarkemmin ja laadukkaammin. Tutkimuksella on kolmenlaisia tuloksia: hankintatoimen parannetut metodit, hankintaohjelmiston pohjana olevat toiminta- ja laskentamallit sekä implementaationa hankintasovellus. Uudistetut projekti- ja hankintaohjeet kuvaavat hankintatoiminnan parannettuja metodeja. Hankintaohjelmistoasuunnitellessa ja kehitettäessä tehdyt kuvaukset sisältävät uusia malleja niin hankintaprosessille kuin hankinnan seuraamiseksi suurissa laitosprojekteissa. Itse ohjelmisto on tuloksena implementaatio, joka perustuu parannettuihin hankintametodeihin ja uusiin toiminta- ja laskentamalleihin. Uudistetut projekti- ja hankintaohjeet ovat olleet käytössä Pöyry Oyj:ssä vuodesta 1991. Vuosien varrella nämä toimintaohjeet ovat auttaneet ja tukeneet satojen laitosprojektientoteutusta ja ylläpitäneet Pöyry Oyj:n kilpailukykyä kansainvälisenä projektitalona. Hankintasovellus puolestaan on ollut käytössä useissa projekteissa ja sen on havaittu pienentävän hankintatoimen suoria työkustannuksia laitosprojekteissa. Sovelluksen katsotaan myös tuovan epäsuoria kustannussäästöjä parempien hankintapäätösten muodossa, mutta näiden säästöjen suuruutta ei pystytä luotettavasti arvioimaan.

Direct torque control of permanent magnet synchronous machines - analysis and implementation

Thedirect torque control (DTC) has become an accepted vector control method besidethe current vector control. The DTC was first applied to asynchronous machines,and has later been applied also to synchronous machines. This thesis analyses the application of the DTC to permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM). In order to take the full advantage of the DTC, the PMSM has to be properly dimensioned. Therefore the effect of the motor parameters is analysed taking the control principle into account. Based on the analysis, a parameter selection procedure is presented. The analysis and the selection procedure utilize nonlinear optimization methods. The key element of a direct torque controlled drive is the estimation of the stator flux linkage. Different estimation methods - a combination of current and voltage models and improved integration methods - are analysed. The effect of an incorrect measured rotor angle in the current model is analysed andan error detection and compensation method is presented. The dynamic performance of an earlier presented sensorless flux estimation method is made better by improving the dynamic performance of the low-pass filter used and by adapting the correction of the flux linkage to torque changes. A method for the estimation ofthe initial angle of the rotor is presented. The method is based on measuring the inductance of the machine in several directions and fitting the measurements into a model. The model is nonlinear with respect to the rotor angle and therefore a nonlinear least squares optimization method is needed in the procedure. A commonly used current vector control scheme is the minimum current control. In the DTC the stator flux linkage reference is usually kept constant. Achieving the minimum current requires the control of the reference. An on-line method to perform the minimization of the current by controlling the stator flux linkage reference is presented. Also, the control of the reference above the base speed is considered. A new estimation flux linkage is introduced for the estimation of the parameters of the machine model. In order to utilize the flux linkage estimates in off-line parameter estimation, the integration methods are improved. An adaptive correction is used in the same way as in the estimation of the controller stator flux linkage. The presented parameter estimation methods are then used in aself-commissioning scheme. The proposed methods are tested with a laboratory drive, which consists of a commercial inverter hardware with a modified software and several prototype PMSMs.

Selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia in forced unsteady state reactors - Case based reasoning and mathematical model simulation reasoning

The application of forced unsteady-state reactors in case of selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) with ammonia (NH3) is sustained by the fact that favorable temperature and composition distributions which cannot be achieved in any steady-state regime can be obtained by means of unsteady-state operations. In a normal way of operation the low exothermicity of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reaction (usually carried out in the range of 280-350°C) is not enough to maintain by itself the chemical reaction. A normal mode of operation usually requires supply of supplementary heat increasing in this way the overall process operation cost. Through forced unsteady-state operation, the main advantage that can be obtained when exothermic reactions take place is the possibility of trapping, beside the ammonia, the moving heat wave inside the catalytic bed. The unsteady state-operation enables the exploitation of the thermal storage capacity of the catalyticbed. The catalytic bed acts as a regenerative heat exchanger allowing auto-thermal behaviour when the adiabatic temperature rise is low. Finding the optimum reactor configuration, employing the most suitable operation model and identifying the reactor behavior are highly important steps in order to configure a proper device for industrial applications. The Reverse Flow Reactor (RFR) - a forced unsteady state reactor - corresponds to the above mentioned characteristics and may be employed as an efficient device for the treatment of dilute pollutant mixtures. As a main disadvantage, beside its advantages, the RFR presents the 'wash out' phenomena. This phenomenon represents emissions of unconverted reactants at every switch of the flow direction. As a consequence our attention was focused on finding an alternative reactor configuration for RFR which is not affected by the incontrollable emissions of unconverted reactants. In this respect the Reactor Network (RN) was investigated. Its configuration consists of several reactors connected in a closed sequence, simulating a moving bed by changing the reactants feeding position. In the RN the flow direction is maintained in the same way ensuring uniformcatalyst exploitation and in the same time the 'wash out' phenomena is annulated. The simulated moving bed (SMB) can operate in transient mode giving practically constant exit concentration and high conversion levels. The main advantage of the reactor network operation is emphasizedby the possibility to obtain auto-thermal behavior with nearly uniformcatalyst utilization. However, the reactor network presents only a small range of switching times which allow to reach and to maintain an ignited state. Even so a proper study of the complex behavior of the RN may give the necessary information to overcome all the difficulties that can appear in the RN operation. The unsteady-state reactors complexity arises from the fact that these reactor types are characterized by short contact times and complex interaction between heat and mass transportphenomena. Such complex interactions can give rise to a remarkable complex dynamic behavior characterized by a set of spatial-temporal patterns, chaotic changes in concentration and traveling waves of heat or chemical reactivity. The main efforts of the current research studies concern the improvement of contact modalities between reactants, the possibility of thermal wave storage inside the reactor and the improvement of the kinetic activity of the catalyst used. Paying attention to the above mentioned aspects is important when higher activity even at low feeding temperatures and low emissions of unconverted reactants are the main operation concerns. Also, the prediction of the reactor pseudo or steady-state performance (regarding the conversion, selectivity and thermal behavior) and the dynamicreactor response during exploitation are important aspects in finding the optimal control strategy for the forced unsteady state catalytic tubular reactors. The design of an adapted reactor requires knowledge about the influence of its operating conditions on the overall process performance and a precise evaluation of the operating parameters rage for which a sustained dynamic behavior is obtained. An apriori estimation of the system parameters result in diminution of the computational efforts. Usually the convergence of unsteady state reactor systems requires integration over hundreds of cycles depending on the initial guess of the parameter values. The investigation of various operation models and thermal transfer strategies give reliable means to obtain recuperative and regenerative devices which are capable to maintain an auto-thermal behavior in case of low exothermic reactions. In the present research work a gradual analysis of the SCR of NOx with ammonia process in forced unsteady-state reactors was realized. The investigation covers the presentationof the general problematic related to the effect of noxious emissions in the environment, the analysis of the suitable catalysts types for the process, the mathematical analysis approach for modeling and finding the system solutions and the experimental investigation of the device found to be more suitable for the present process. In order to gain information about the forced unsteady state reactor design, operation, important system parameters and their values, mathematical description, mathematicalmethod for solving systems of partial differential equations and other specific aspects, in a fast and easy way, and a case based reasoning (CBR) approach has been used. This approach, using the experience of past similarproblems and their adapted solutions, may provide a method for gaining informations and solutions for new problems related to the forced unsteady state reactors technology. As a consequence a CBR system was implemented and a corresponding tool was developed. Further on, grooving up the hypothesis of isothermal operation, the investigation by means of numerical simulation of the feasibility of the SCR of NOx with ammonia in the RFRand in the RN with variable feeding position was realized. The hypothesis of non-isothermal operation was taken into account because in our opinion ifa commercial catalyst is considered, is not possible to modify the chemical activity and its adsorptive capacity to improve the operation butis possible to change the operation regime. In order to identify the most suitable device for the unsteady state reduction of NOx with ammonia, considering the perspective of recuperative and regenerative devices, a comparative analysis of the above mentioned two devices performance was realized. The assumption of isothermal conditions in the beginningof the forced unsteadystate investigation allowed the simplification of the analysis enabling to focus on the impact of the conditions and mode of operation on the dynamic features caused by the trapping of one reactant in the reactor, without considering the impact of thermal effect on overall reactor performance. The non-isothermal system approach has been investigated in order to point out the important influence of the thermal effect on overall reactor performance, studying the possibility of RFR and RN utilization as recuperative and regenerative devices and the possibility of achieving a sustained auto-thermal behavior in case of lowexothermic reaction of SCR of NOx with ammonia and low temperature gasfeeding. Beside the influence of the thermal effect, the influence of the principal operating parameters, as switching time, inlet flow rate and initial catalyst temperature have been stressed. This analysis is important not only because it allows a comparison between the two devices and optimisation of the operation, but also the switching time is the main operating parameter. An appropriate choice of this parameter enables the fulfilment of the process constraints. The level of the conversions achieved, the more uniform temperature profiles, the uniformity ofcatalyst exploitation and the much simpler mode of operation imposed the RN as a much more suitable device for SCR of NOx with ammonia, in usual operation and also in the perspective of control strategy implementation. Theoretical simplified models have also been proposed in order to describe the forced unsteady state reactors performance and to estimate their internal temperature and concentration profiles. The general idea was to extend the study of catalytic reactor dynamics taking into account the perspectives that haven't been analyzed yet. The experimental investigation ofRN revealed a good agreement between the data obtained by model simulation and the ones obtained experimentally.

Design and implementation of FPGA-based LQ control of active magnetic bearings

The need for high performance, high precision, and energy saving in rotating machinery demands an alternative solution to traditional bearings. Because of the contactless operation principle, the rotating machines employing active magnetic bearings (AMBs) provide many advantages over the traditional ones. The advantages such as contamination-free operation, low maintenance costs, high rotational speeds, low parasitic losses, programmable stiffness and damping, and vibration insulation come at expense of high cost, and complex technical solution. All these properties make the use of AMBs appropriate primarily for specific and highly demanding applications. High performance and high precision control requires model-based control methods and accurate models of the flexible rotor. In turn, complex models lead to high-order controllers and feature considerable computational burden. Fortunately, in the last few years the advancements in signal processing devices provide new perspective on the real-time control of AMBs. The design and the real-time digital implementation of the high-order LQ controllers, which focus on fast execution times, are the subjects of this work. In particular, the control design and implementation in the field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuits are investigated. The optimal design is guided by the physical constraints of the system for selecting the optimal weighting matrices. The plant model is complemented by augmenting appropriate disturbance models. The compensation of the force-field nonlinearities is proposed for decreasing the uncertainty of the actuator. A disturbance-observer-based unbalance compensation for canceling the magnetic force vibrations or vibrations in the measured positions is presented. The theoretical studies are verified by the practical experiments utilizing a custom-built laboratory test rig. The test rig uses a prototyping control platform developed in the scope of this work. To sum up, the work makes a step in the direction of an embedded single-chip FPGA-based controller of AMBs.

Code Generator for Key Management Protocols - Design and Implementation

Key management has a fundamental role in secure communications. Designing and testing of key management protocols is tricky. These protocols must work flawlessly despite of any abuse. The main objective of this work was to design and implement a tool that helps to specify the protocol and makes it possible to test the protocol while it is still under development. This tool generates compile-ready java code from a key management protocol model. A modelling method for these protocols, which uses Unified Modeling Language (UML) was also developed. The protocol is modelled, exported as an XMI and read by the code generator tool. The code generator generates java code that is immediately executable with a test software after compilation.

Description and implementation of cut calculation-method in a sawmill

Työn tavoitteena oli kuvata ja ottaa käyttöön sahauseräkohtaisen kannattavuuden laskentamenetelmä sahalle, sekä tehdä laskentamalli menetelmän tueksi. Sahauksen peruskäsitteiden jälkeen työssä on esitelty sahan tuotantoprosessi. Tuotantoprosessi on kuvattu kirjallisuuden ja asiantuntijoiden haastattelujen perusteella. Seuraavaksi kartoitettiin hyötyjä ja vaikutuksia, mitä laskentamenetelmältä odotetaan.. Kustannuslaskennan teoriaa selvitettiin kirjallisuuslähteitä käyttäen silmälläpitäen juuri tätä kehitettävää laskentamenetelmää. Lisäksi esiteltiin Uimaharjun sahalla käytettävät ja laskentaan liittyvät laskenta- ja tietojärjestelmät.Nykyisin sahalla ei ole minkäänlaista menetelmää sahauseräkohtaisen tuloksen laskemiseksi. Pienillä muutoksilla sahan tietojärjestelmään ja prosessikoneisiin voidaan sahauserä kuljettaa prosessin läpi niin, että jokaisessa prosessin vaiheessa sille saadaan kohdistettua tuotantotietoa. Eri vaiheista saatua tietoa käyttämällä saadaan tarkasti määritettyä tuotteet, joita sahauserä tuotti ja paljonko tuotantoresursseja tuottamiseen kului. Laskentamalliin syötetään tuotantotietoja ja kustannustietoa ja saadaan vastaukseksi sahauserän taloudellinen tulos.Toimenpide ehdotuksena esitetään lisätutkimusta tuotantotietojen automaattisesta keräämisestä manuaalisen työn ja virheiden poistamiseksi. Suhteellisen pienillä panoksilla voidaan jokaiselle sahauserälle kerätä tuotantotiedot täysin automaattisesti. Lisäksi kehittämäni laskentamallin tilalle tulisi hankkia sovellus, joka käyttäisi paremmin hyväksi nykyisiä tietojärjestelmiä ja poistaisi manuaalisen työvaiheen laskennassa.

Development of Furnace Model for Bubbling Fluidized Bed Boiler

The aim of this thesis was to develop a model, which can predict heat transfer, heat release distribution and vertical temperature profile of gas phase in the furnace of a bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) boiler. The model is based on three separate model components that take care of heat transfer, heat release distribution and mass and energy balance calculations taking into account the boiler design and operating conditions. The model was successfully validated by solving the model parameters on the basis of commercial size BFB boiler test run information and by performing parametric studies with the model. Implementation of the developed model for the Foster Wheeler BFB design procedures will require model validation with existing BFB database and possibly more detailed measurements at the commercial size BFB boilers.

The Swiss reform of the allocation of tasks : The conventions-programs as a new partnership model for vertical cooperation ?

This research examines the impacts of the Swiss reform of the allocation of tasks which was accepted in 2004 and implemented in 2008 to "re-assign" the responsibilities between the federal government and the cantons. The public tasks were redistributed, according to the leading and fundamental principle of subsidiarity. Seven tasks came under exclusive federal responsibility; ten came under the control of the cantons; and twenty-two "common tasks" were allocated to both the Confederation and the cantons. For these common tasks it wasn't possible to separate the management and the implementation. In order to deal with nineteen of them, the reform introduced the conventions-programs (CPs), which are public law contracts signed by the Confederation with each canton. These CPs are generally valid for periods of four years (2008-11, 2012-15 and 2016-19, respectively). The third period is currently being prepared. By using the principal-agent theory I examine how contracts can improve political relations between a principal (Confederation) and an agent (canton). I also provide a first qualitative analysis by examining the impacts of these contracts on the vertical cooperation and on the implication of different actors by focusing my study on five CPs - protection of cultural heritage and conservation of historic monuments, encouragement of the integration of foreigners, economic development, protection against noise and protection of the nature and landscape - applied in five cantons, which represents twenty-five cases studies.

Diffusion of Administrative Innovation: TQM Implementation and Effectiveness in a Global

The main objective of this dissertation is to create new knowledge on an administrative innovation, its adoption, diffusion and finally its effectiveness. In this dissertation the administrative innovation is approached through a widely utilized management philosophy, namely the total quality management (TQM) strategy. TQM operationalizes a self-assessment procedure, which is based on continual improvement principles and measuring the improvements. This dissertation also captures the theme of change management as it analyzes the adoption and diffusion of the administrative innovation. It identifies innovation characteristics as well as organisational and individual factors explaining the adoption and implementation. As a special feature, this study also explores the effectiveness of the innovation based on objective data. For studying the administrative innovation (TQM model), a multinational Case Company provides a versatile ground for a deep, longitudinal analysis. The Case Company started the adoption systematically in the mid 1980s in some of its units. As part of their strategic planning today, the procedure is in use throughout the entire global company. The empirical story begins from the innovation adoption decision that was made in the Case Company over 22 years ago. In order to be able to capture the right atmosphere and backgrounds leading to the adoption decision, key informants from that time were interviewed, since the main target was to clarify the dynamics of how an administrative innovation develops. In addition, archival material was collected and studied, available memos and data relating to the innovation, innovation adoption and later to the implementation contained altogether 20500 pages of documents. A survey was furthermore conducted at the end of 2006 focusing on questions related to the innovation, organization and leadership characteristics and the response rate totalled up to 54%. For measuring the effectiveness of the innovation implementation, the needed longitudinal objective performance data was collected. This data included the profit unit level experience of TQM, the development of the self assessment scores per profit unit and performance data per profit unit measured with profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction. The data covered the years 1995-2006. As a result, the prerequisites for the successful adoption of an administrative innovation were defined, such as the top management involvement, support of the change agents and effective tools for implementation and measurement. The factors with the greatest effect on the depth of the implementation were the timing of the adoption and formalization. The results also indicated that the TQM model does have an effect on the company performance measured with profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction. Consequently this thesis contributes to the present literature (i) by taking into its scope an administrative innovation and focusing on the whole innovation implementation process, from the adoption, through diffusion until its consequences, (ii) because the studied factors with an effect on the innovation adoption and diffusion are multifaceted and grouped into individual, organizational and environmental factors, and a strong emphasis is put on the role of the individual change agents and (iii) by measuring the depth and consistency of the administrative innovation. This deep analysis was possible due to the availability of longitudinal data with triangulation possibilities.

Com explicar un sistema CLIL: un model dinàmic newtonià

En la implementació del CLIL a l’educació superior, apart d’estudis sobre el nivell de l’estudiantat i la disponibilitat del professorat, i de l’elaboració de material educatiu interdisciplinari, el repte actual és aconseguir que s’involucrin activament en CLIL els professors de contingut d’un ventall ampli de disciplines. En aquesta comunicació es presenten les bases d’un model per un sistema CLIL, utilitzant la dinàmica newtoniana. Pot ser un model interessant i plausible en un context universitari científic i tecnològic, on fins ara el CLIL s’ha implementat només lleugerament.

Evaluation of Implementation of BSc IT Curriculum at Tumaini University

In Tanzania computer knowledge is vital to supplement the pace fast growing economic and development activities, which demands high and reliable level of expertise in com- puting field. In 2006, a research carried out at Tumaini University with purpose to design and implement a contextualized curriculum that can supplement for such needs hence facilitate development in Tanzanian context. A contextualized curriculum took advantage of six principles namely curriculum contex- tualization, projects, practical, interdisciplinary orientation, international recognition and continuous research for the program’s formative and development. Implementation of the curriculum followed the CATI (Contextualize, Apply, Transfer, and Import) model with emphasis on students to identify societal expectations at the early stage in learning process, in which case the graduates will potentially cater for societal expertise needs on ICT. This study adopts an emergent exploratory cross-section research design, while employ- ing a qualitative approach. This study was conducted at Tumaini University in Iringa where by purposeful sampling was used to obtain participants such as students, teach- ers, administrators and employers who participated in several focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and participant observation. The study reveals that six principles are satisfactorily met,despite of bottlenecks such as incompatibility in pedagogical thinking and technology availability for e-learning, learning attitudes, insufficient experts with actual skills and experience,in academic field among the others. The study recommends that iterative longitudinal study should be car- ried out to design for proper intervention in response to these problems which will help in improving and stabilize the curriculum.

A Practical Micro Mechanical Model Based Local Approach Methodology for the Analysis of Ductile Fracture of Welded T-Joints

This thesis concentrates on developing a practical local approach methodology based on micro mechanical models for the analysis of ductile fracture of welded joints. Two major problems involved in the local approach, namely the dilational constitutive relation reflecting the softening behaviour of material, and the failure criterion associated with the constitutive equation, have been studied in detail. Firstly, considerable efforts were made on the numerical integration and computer implementation for the non trivial dilational Gurson Tvergaard model. Considering the weaknesses of the widely used Euler forward integration algorithms, a family of generalized mid point algorithms is proposed for the Gurson Tvergaard model. Correspondingly, based on the decomposition of stresses into hydrostatic and deviatoric parts, an explicit seven parameter expression for the consistent tangent moduli of the algorithms is presented. This explicit formula avoids any matrix inversion during numerical iteration and thus greatly facilitates the computer implementation of the algorithms and increase the efficiency of the code. The accuracy of the proposed algorithms and other conventional algorithms has been assessed in a systematic manner in order to highlight the best algorithm for this study. The accurate and efficient performance of present finite element implementation of the proposed algorithms has been demonstrated by various numerical examples. It has been found that the true mid point algorithm (a = 0.5) is the most accurate one when the deviatoric strain increment is radial to the yield surface and it is very important to use the consistent tangent moduli in the Newton iteration procedure. Secondly, an assessment of the consistency of current local failure criteria for ductile fracture, the critical void growth criterion, the constant critical void volume fraction criterion and Thomason's plastic limit load failure criterion, has been made. Significant differences in the predictions of ductility by the three criteria were found. By assuming the void grows spherically and using the void volume fraction from the Gurson Tvergaard model to calculate the current void matrix geometry, Thomason's failure criterion has been modified and a new failure criterion for the Gurson Tvergaard model is presented. Comparison with Koplik and Needleman's finite element results shows that the new failure criterion is fairly accurate indeed. A novel feature of the new failure criterion is that a mechanism for void coalescence is incorporated into the constitutive model. Hence the material failure is a natural result of the development of macroscopic plastic flow and the microscopic internal necking mechanism. By the new failure criterion, the critical void volume fraction is not a material constant and the initial void volume fraction and/or void nucleation parameters essentially control the material failure. This feature is very desirable and makes the numerical calibration of void nucleation parameters(s) possible and physically sound. Thirdly, a local approach methodology based on the above two major contributions has been built up in ABAQUS via the user material subroutine UMAT and applied to welded T joints. By using the void nucleation parameters calibrated from simple smooth and notched specimens, it was found that the fracture behaviour of the welded T joints can be well predicted using present methodology. This application has shown how the damage parameters of both base material and heat affected zone (HAZ) material can be obtained in a step by step manner and how useful and capable the local approach methodology is in the analysis of fracture behaviour and crack development as well as structural integrity assessment of practical problems where non homogeneous materials are involved. Finally, a procedure for the possible engineering application of the present methodology is suggested and discussed.

Design and implementation of a leisure program to improve function and wellbeing in people with depressive disorder

Depression is a major cause of disability and disease with significant costs to the health system and for the whole society. Regarding the treatment, in recent years has questioned the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs, with a recognition that although depressive disorders tend to improve with these treatments, residual symptoms seems to be still the norm, which is associated with the risk of new episodes or relapses, and faster its appearance. Otherwise many of the specialized clinical guidelines, propose a based on stepped-care model intervention, prioritizing less intrusive actions, including low-intensity psychosocial-interventions.

A cross-border VMI to Russia and cultural impacts to the implementation

VMI (Vendor managed inventory) is a collaboration model between a supplier and a customer, where a supplier has the responsibility of the inventory replenishments. The tightened competition forces companies to collaborate, and VMI is a simple method to cooperate. The aim of this study was to create a cross-border VMI model from Finland to Russia in the case company. However, the cultural differences between the countries produce problems and therefore the cultural impacts to the model and implementation were taken into account. This study includes two parts: the first framework consists of operational principles, benefits, risks, criteria and success factors of VMI and the second concentrates on cultural aspects of the process change. As a result, an operating model for case company’s supply chain was created. In addition, the suggestions for avoiding the cultural impacts in the implementation were given.

Design and implementation of a multipurpose reactor for scale-up studies

In the theoretical part, the different polymerisation catalysts are introduced and the phenomena related to mixing in the stirred tank reactor are presented. Also the advantages and challenges related to scale-up are discussed. The aim of the applied part was to design and implement an intermediate-sized reactor useful for scale-up studies. The reactor setting was tested making one batch of Ziegler–Natta polypropylene catalyst. The catalyst preparation with a designed equipment setting succeeded and the catalyst was analysed. The analyses of the catalyst were done, because the properties of the catalyst were compared to the normal properties of Ziegler–Natta polypropylene catalyst. The total titanium content of the catalyst was slightly higher than in normal Ziegler–Natta polypropylene catalyst, but the magnesium and aluminium content of the catalyst were in the normal level. By adjusting the siphonation tube and adding one washing step the titanium content of the catalyst could be decreased. The particle size of the catalyst was small, but the activity was in a normal range. The size of the catalyst particles could be increased by decreasing the stirring speed. During the test run, it was noticed that some improvements for the designed equipment setting could be done. For example more valves for the chemical feed line need to be added to ensure inert conditions during the catalyst preparation. Also nitrogen for the reactor needs to separate from other nitrogen line. With this change the pressure in the reactor can be kept as desired during the catalyst preparation. The proposals for improvements are presented in the applied part. After these improvements are done, the equipment setting is ready for start-up. The computational fluid dynamics model for the designed reactor was provided by cooperation with Lappeenranta University of Technology. The experiments showed that for adequate mixing with one impeller, stirring speed of 600 rpm is needed. The computational fluid dynamics model with two impellers showed that there was no difference in the mixing efficiency if the upper impeller were pumping downwards or upwards.