Automatic Transmission

If you have ever driven a car with an automatic transmission, then you know that there are two big differences between an automatic transmission and a manu­al transmission:
There is no clutch pedal in an automatic transmission car.
There is no gear shift in an automatic transmission car. 
Once you put the transmission into drive, everything else is automatic.Both the automatic transmission (plus its torque converter) and a manual transmission (with­ its clutch) accomplish exactly the same thing, but they do it in totally different ways. It turns out that the way an automatic transmission does it is absolutely amazing!

The Worlds Largest Internal Combustion Engine

The world’s biggest engine is the Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C. It is a turbo charged two stroke diesel engines and it is the most powerful and efficient low revolution engine in the world today.

The Wartsila-Sulser is manufactured by the Aioi Works in Japan and is part of Japans Diesel United Ltd engine manufacturers.

Below is an 89 foot long 44 foot wide 12 cylinder engine, literally as big as a house! What I find confusing is why they haven't actually built the ship around the engine? How they actually get the 2000 ton engine out of the plant and more over install an engine of this size into a ship makes the mind boggle.

HOW AEROPLANES FLY??

Well,many of us will be thinking that HOW AEROPLANES FLY??

Drop a stone into the ocean and it will sink into the deep. Chuck a stone off the side of a mountain and it will plummet as well. Sure, steel ships can float and even very heavy airplanes can fly, but to achieve flight, you have to exploit the four basic aerodynamic forces: lift, weight, thrust and drag. You can think of them as four arms holding the plane in the air, each pushing from a different direction.

First, let's examine thrust and drag. Thrust, whether caused by a propeller or a jet engine, is the aerodynamic force that pushes or pulls the airplane forward through space. The opposing aerodynamic force is drag, or the friction that resists the motion of an object moving through a fluid (or immobile in a moving fluid, as occurs when you fly a kite).If you stick your hand out of a car window while moving, you'll experience a very simple demonstration of drag at work.For flight to take place, thrust must be equal to or greater than the drag. If, for any reason, the amount of drag becomes larger than the amount of thrust, the plane will slow down. If the thrust is increased so that it's greater than the drag, the plane will speed up.

CLUTCH

A clutch is a mechanical device that provides for the transmission of power from one component (the driving member) to another (the driven member) when engaged, but can be disengaged.

Clutches are used whenever the transmission of power or motion needs to be controlled either in amount or over time (e.g., electric screwdrivers limit how much torque is transmitted through use of a clutch; clutches control whether automobiles transmit engine power to the wheels).

In the simplest application, clutches are employed in devices which have two rotating shafts (drive shaft or line shaft). In these devices, one shaft is typically attached to a motor or other power unit (the driving member) while the other shaft (the driven member) provides output power for work to be done.

Recirculating Ball Screw

This type of power screw is used for high speed high efficiency applications, and is becoming more common. It has become popular because it is essential in CNC, as well as robots and aircraft actuators. The ball screw assembly is as shown below and includes a circular shaped groove cut in a helix on the shaft. The ball nut also includes an internal circular shaped groove which matches the shaft groove. The nut is retained in position on the shaft by balls moving within the groove. When the nut rotates relative to the shaft the balls move in one direction along the groove supporting any axial load. When the balls reach one end of the nut they are directed back to the other end via ball guides. The balls are therefore being continuously recirculated.

PUMP

A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they use to move the fluid: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps
Pumps operate by some mechanism (typically reciprocating or rotary), and consume energy to perform mechanical work by moving the fluid. Pumps operate via many energy sources, including manual operation, electricity, an engine of some type, or wind power.

Specifications:

Pumps are commonly rated by horsepower, flow rate, outlet pressure in metres (or feet) of head, inlet suction in suction feet (or metres) of head. The head can be simplified as the number of feet or metres the pump can raise or lower a column of water at atmospheric pressure.
From an initial design point of view, engineers often use a quantity termed the specific speed to identify the most suitable pump type for a particular combination of flow rate and head.

 

Biomimicry Creates New Tires

Biomimicry is the science that imitates nature to create new products.
Resilient Technologies, a Wisconsin based company, has created a tire that can't go flat.
Instead of using a pressurized air cavity, the tire design relies on a geometric pattern of six-sided cells that are arranged in a matrix like a honeycomb.

It has the same ride, reduced noise levels and heat generation as pressurized tires. The goal wasto create an airless tire with uniform flexibility and load transfer that would endure tremendous wear and tear and still perform well.
The best design was found in nature, which was the honeycomb.
 

Source: www.resilienttech.com