ASME Articles:"CAD: Not Just For Engineers", "Wind Turbine Under Stress", "Internal Combustion Engine: The Road Forward"

American Society of Mechanical Engineer(ASME)

CAD: Not Just For Engineers
March 2011

The CAD programs that engineers use every day for highly technical design and implementation of engineering concepts have other, far flung uses. Fashion designers, video game creators, landscapers, and interior designers have used the programs to make their work more efficient, and more transparent to their clients.

Kathy Dickinson, for instance, has knit, sewn, and crocheted clothes for dolls since she was a child. As an adult she started a small home-based business selling vintage patterns. Her business, Halea’s Doll Clothes grew steadily from her home in Averill Park, New York, helped along by the rise of the internet, which gave doll lovers the world over a new means to find each other. Unfortunately, though, a series of seizures left her with trembling hands.

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Wind Turbine Under Stress

March 2011

Wind turbines are impressive structures. But, even the mightiest wind generator can be brought down by something as small as a bearing. A new, high-fidelity Bearing Simulation Tool (BEAST) provides a clear picture of the behavior of bearings, wind turbine gearboxes, and rotating shafts during simulation. It is helping the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Gearbox Reliability Collaborative identify gearbox weaknesses and improve designs, and individual companies improve reliability.

Transient forces from the wind put enormous stress on wind turbine main shafts, gearboxes, and other rotating parts. End users and owner-operators report their gearboxes generally last only three to five years, according to Sandy Butterfield, principal engineer at NREL. Simulating the wind’s interaction with mechanical components can identify problems across a broad range of operating conditions very efficiently.

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Internal Combustion Engine: The Road Forward

April 2011

Here come the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, the early entrants in the U.S. electric vehicle marketplace and the end products of more than 20 years of automotive innovation and advanced research and development.

Environmentalists and green car advocates—along with a loyal following of public policyholders, car buyers, and engineers—herald the Leaf, Volt, and other electric vehicles (EVs) due to arrive in the next few years as symbols of hope for clean, energy-efficient transportation.

Time will tell if the new battery-powered automobiles establish a significant foothold in the marketplace. But for now, the technology the electric vehicle aims one day to replace–the internal combustion (IC) engine—is thriving and enjoying significant gains in research and development activity.

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