Investigations into the use of the finite element method and artificial neural networks in the non-destructive analysis of metallic tubes

This work presents an investigation into the use of the finite element method and artificial neural networks in the identification of defects in industrial plants metallic tubes, due to the aggressive actions of the fluids contained by them, and/or atmospheric agents. The methodology used in this study consists of simulating a very large number of defects in a metallic tube, using the finite element method. Both variations in width and height of the defects are considered. Then, the obtained results are used to generate a set of vectors for the training of a perceptron multilayer artificial neural network. Finally, the obtained neural network is used to classify a group of new defects, simulated by the finite element method, but that do not belong to the original dataset. The reached results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach, and encourage future works on this subject.

The impact of fuse link manufacturers on arc flash energy

The traditional operational and hazard control paradigm of an electrical installation has several issues pertaining to the diversity of equipment. A large maintenance inventory is a reason for concern for any manager, but the arc flash hazard is a particularly new phenomenon and the effects of equipment diversity on this phenomenon are even newer. The class of arc hazard can be increased, simply by changing the fuse link or circuit breaker manufacturer. Management pressure to operate as well as non-standard practices and installations are also partly responsible. The aim of this study is to take a typical situation in an industrial plant and to statistically simulate, by means of a dedicated software program, the fuse arc flash interruption performance of various manufacturers. The purpose of this study is to obtain a more objective indication of the influence of different fuse link manufacturers on arc flash incident energy. © 2011 IEEE.

Arc-flash energy: The impact of fuse link manufacturers

The traditional operational and hazard control paradigm of an electrical installation has several issues pertaining to the diversity of equipment. A large maintenance inventory is a reason for concern for any manager, but the arc-flash hazard is a particularly new phenomenon, and the effects of equipment diversity on this phenomenon are even newer. The class of arc hazard can be simply increased by changing the fuse link or circuit breaker manufacturer. Management pressure to operate as well as nonstandard practices and installations are also partly responsible. The aim of this article is to take a typical situation in an industrial plant and to statistically simulate, by means of a dedicated software program, the fuse arc-flash interruption performance of various manufacturers. The purpose of this article is to obtain a more objective indication of the influence of different fuse link manufacturers on arc-flash incident energy. © 1975-2012 IEEE.

Model of a game for improving integrated decisions in production management

This paper presents the results obtained with a business game whose model represents the decision making process related to two moments at an industrial company. The first refers to the project of the industrial plant, and the second to its management. The game model was conceived so the player's first decision would establish capacity and other parameters such as quantities of each product to produce, marketing expenses, research and development, quality, advertising, salaries, if purchases will be made in installments or in cash, if there will be credit sales and how many installments will be allowed and the number of workers in the assembly area. An experiment was conducted with employees of a Brazilian company. Data obtained indicate that the players have lack of contents, especially in finances. Although these results cannot be generalized, they confirm prior results with undergraduate and graduate students and they indicate the need for reinforcement in this undergraduate area. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Development of an instrumentation system embedded on FPGA for real time measurement of mechanical vibrations in rotating machinery

The real-time monitoring of events in an industrial plant is vital, to monitor the actual conditions of operation of the machinery responsible for the manufacturing process. A predictive maintenance program includes condition monitoring of the rotating machinery, to anticipate possible conditions of failure. To increase the operational reliability it is thus necessary an efficient tool to analyze and monitor the equipments, in real-time, and enabling the detection of e.g. incipient faults in bearings. To fulfill these requirements some innovations have become frequent, namely the inclusion of vibration sensors or stator current sensors. These innovations enable the development of new design methodologies that take into account the ease of future modifications, upgrades, and replacement of the monitored machine, as well as expansion of the monitoring system. This paper presents the development, implementation and testing of an instrument for vibration monitoring, as a possible solution to embed in industrial environment. The digital control system is based on an FPGA, and its configuration with an open hardware design tool is described. Special focus is given to the area of fault detection in rolling bearings. © 2012 IEEE.

Identificação de defeitos em tubulações metálicas utilizando redes neurais artificiais e o método dos elementos finitos

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEB

Detecção de falhas via observadores de estado em sistemas rotativos, considerando-se suas fundações

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Ciclo combinado com gaseificação integrada de biomassa – análise de penalidade exergética de emissão de CO2

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEG

Avaliação de sistemas de prevenção de falhas em processos de manufatura na indústria automotiva com metodologia de auxílio à decisão

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Em busca de carvão vegetal barato: o deslocamento de siderúrgicas para a Amazônia

O artigo analisa o processo de instalação, na Amazônia Oriental brasileira, de diversos produtores independentes de ferro-gusa, nas últimas duas décadas. Mesmo em número e velocidade menores do que indicava o planejamento estatal, foram implantadas no Corredor da Estrada de Ferro Carajás doze siderúrgicas. São empresas dedicadas somente à produção desta commoditie cuja produção requer elevada quantidade de energia suprida por carvão vegetal. Neste artigo, mostramos que houve deslocamento para a Amazônia de indústrias que até os anos 90 estavam concentradas exclusivamente no Sudeste brasileiro e que a demanda de carvão vegetal consolidou-se como principal elo de articulação da siderurgia com a socioeconomia da região de Carajás. A produção de carvão vegetal tem acarretado muitos impactos sociais e ambientais na região Amazônica. Impactos que se materializam pela ampliação da pressão exercida sobre a floresta amazônica, por práticas ambientalmente imprudentes e pela produção do carvão vegetal sustentada por trabalho precário, mal remunerado e insalubre. Exemplo de um cenário diante do qual se desenha como alternativa é a manutenção da fabricação de ferro-gusa nos moldes atuais e a incorporação de pequenos fornos elétricos a arco para a produção de aço. Contudo, a possível instalação de mini-aciarias na região, por si só, não resolve o principal problema socioambiental que envolve o beneficiamento do minério de ferro na região, vinculado aos efeitos deletérios da produção carvoeira, podendo inclusive agravá-los.

Diferenciações na produção siderúrgica e implicações para o desenvolvimento na Amazônia Oriental Brasileira

As estratégias de modernização da Amazônia concebidas pelo Estado nacional tinham em sua proposta as fragilizadas diretrizes geopolíticas de segurança e desenvolvimento regional, voltadas centralmente para a instalação de empreendimentos industriais, dentre elas as indústrias siderúrgicas independentes, sob a noção de que desta atividade passaria para a produção produtos de aço e assim se processaria o desenvolvimento regional. Pela análise das diferenciações das rotas de produção independente, integrada e semi-integrada é possível se compreender como os elementos das plantas industriais se comportam em cada rota e como se inter-relacionam com a socioeconomia regional. O trabalho de pesquisa junto à guseiras permitiu identificar que a instalação de siderúrgicas independentes nos municípios de Açailândia (MA) e Marabá (PA) gerou expectativas frustradas de desenvolvimento local, consolidando-se, portanto, apenas como atividade que possibilitou o crescimento econômico, pois manteve uma rota de produção que articulou a atividade com a socioeconomia regional em bases frágeis e insustentáveis, apoiada, sobretudo na demanda de carvão vegetal. As estruturas de custos e elementos estruturais de cada rota permitiram identificar as diferenças que cada rota apresenta, principalmente na relação mantida com a economia regional, por envolver novos processos, tecnologias e produtos diferenciados. A lógica produtiva das siderúrgicas independentes baseadas na transferência e externalização de custos para a sociedade, relações de trabalho limitadas e na degradação ambiental, sem, contudo, estabelecer processos de inovação, conduziu ao não estabelecimento de processos de desenvolvimento de base local. A perspectiva das rotas de produção siderúrgica integrada e semi-integrada que se instalam na Amazônia tem bases para alterar o cenário regionalmente desenhado e transformar as inter-relações mantidas pela siderurgia independente na Amazônia Oriental, pois articulam elementos que contribuem para a consolidação de efeitos de encadeamento para trás e para frente.

Desenvolvimento de algoritmo para modelagem e simulação de sistemas por grafos de ligação

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Auditoria energética em caldeira de monóxido de carbono

Within the concepts of sustainability, energy audit magnified its importance in managing systems in industrial plants. Can reduce waste and save energy representative, the improvement and development of thermal and electrical systems can be very attractive to business. With the focus on a boiler generating steam, the energy audit aimed to increase efficiency and eliminate energy losses of the heat engine. The boiler in question is commonly called CO boiler because most of the calorific power provided comes from this. Using a fuel gas from the catalyst regeneration process, it has featured in the boiler power generation system of the refinery. Burning a mixture of gaseous components from discarded into the atmosphere, the heat engine can generate tons of steam just as the other boilers installed. The challenge was to work with this gas mixture and obtain maximum efficiency, reduce moisture and enjoy the warmth of the heat exchange have been studied and recommended. Every project, from evaluation of the variables in the composition of fuel gas, to the using of heat exchangers and refrigeration system are suitable for evaluation and improvements

Analise de defeitos em motores através de vibração mecânica: estudo de caso

Revolving machines are among the most used equipment in general industry and therefore expenditures on this equipment class are a significant portion of the total amount spent by the company. If there is an unscheduled stop of some of this equipment, industrial plants can lose huge amounts of money caused by interrupted production and parts delay. Others may increase significantly maintenance costs due to consequences elsewhere not affected before. Even plant and people safety can be in danger if there is an operation interruption without a backup system start. This work is focused on a rotating system case study which is monitored by vibration analysis that shows that is possible to determine when is the most appropriate time for equipment intervention without any reliability loss just by using a simple and cheap system which is not much used because professionals are not aware to its utility. Industrial facilities were evaluated by fail detection and historical analysis in some equipment in order to show feasibility of vibration analysis through a before-during-after process. The plant evaluated is part of a chemical multinational located in Guaratinguetá-SP. At this time, that plant had around 650 critical equipment monthly monitored and no unscheduled shutdown was registered in one year period due to equipment monitoring

Planejamento e controle da produção: reestruturação no layout de apertadeiras eletrônicas em uma linha de produção do ramo de autopeças

In industrial plants, there is a department responsible for planning the use of productive resources to find the best possible way to set out plans in strategic, tactical and operational levels. This department is known as PCP or PPCP, which means Planning and Production Control and Planning, Programming and Production Control, respectively. This work presents the use of some of the tools from this department, in particular the Aggregate Production Planning, to propose a new layout of electronic nutrunners for an auto parts industry output line. Through some process indicators analyzes, was identified some productivity losses. The higher loss rate occurred by the electronic nutrunners breaking, and so this work was focused in these devices. Some premises were adopted for the use of electronic nut runners, setting an ideal cycle time for the operation of the production line and making calculations to define the minimum amount of electronic nutrunners to find the production demand without damaging the equipment. With this work we observed that a relevant factor for the constant breaks of electronic nutrunners is because these are working with overload, in other words, the amount of installed equipment is not enough to supply the demand without failures