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THE Treaty of Rome is one of the least publicised, yet potentially most important, international documents of our time. Under that treaty the six signatory powers began on the first day of this year that process of tariff reductions which will, over the next twelve or fourteen years, reduce and ultimately abolish all tariffs and trade barriers between them. For all practical purposes six national economies will be welded into a single supranational authority, with a common trade and commercial policy. That is to re‐draw the economic map of Europe.

IN the current issue of the journal of the Institute of Practitioners in Work Study, Organisation, and Methods one of its Members, a Mr. E. Cule Davies, plausibly argues that ‘professional standards’ are interdependent with what he terms ‘practical results’. Mr. Davies cites a notional case of a company inviting a ‘specialist’ (the quote marks are his) to improve productivity in a given section and who gave their own professional work study practitioner the same objective to attain.

The Eastern Region of British Railways are evaluating, on the tortuous 10 mile route between Liverpool Street and Chingford, methods of reducing flange wear on the wheels of multiple unit passenger trains. Among the greasing systems being studied is the Enots‐Vogel equipment designed for greasing both inner and outer faces of wheel flanges and supplied by Enots Ltd., Aston Brook Street, Birmingham 6. Equipment of this type has been in use on European railways for some time but only for the treatment of the outer faces of wheel flanges (this is because of a basic difference in railroad design practised there—in Europe check rails are, in general, only installed as parts of points, but in Britain they are often laid on curves so that check rail mileage often represents a significant proportion of total track mileage).

Functions of the grinding fluid The primary functions of the grinding fluid directly affect the outcome of the grinding process as it takes place at the grinding interface and include:

Reliability assessment does require an effective structural modelling approach for systems, in general and manufacturing systems are no exception. This paper aims to develop it for large manufacturing systems using graph models, a systems approach.

Structural graph models for reliability at various hierarchical levels are developed by considering a CNC cam shaft grinding machine. The system reliability expression is obtained by converting the reliability graphs into equivalent matrices, which helps to evaluate and analyse system.

Using the obtained reliability expressions at various hierarchical levels of the system, it is possible not only to evaluate its reliability from structure point of view but also to identify weak structural elements from reliability point of view.

The approach can be extended to include the influence of other parameters, such as human, component and environment, etc., on the system reliability.

The approach helps to design and develop manufacturing systems from reliability consideration by assessing their possible alternatives among these.

The suggested methodology is useful for reliability evaluation of large and complex manufacturing systems.

Considering that a meet between high-speed trains can generate aerodynamic loads, this study aims to investigate the effect of high-speed train meet on wheel wear at different speeds to provide a more accurate wheel wear model and a new idea for reducing wheel wear.

The train speed was set at 250, 300, 350 and 400 km/h separately, and a vehicle system dynamics model was constructed using the parameters of an actual high-speed train on a line. The aerodynamic forces arising from constant-speed train meet were then applied as additional excitation. Semi-Hertzian theory and Kalker’s simplified theory were used to solve the wheel/rail contact problems. The wheel wear was calculated using Archard wear model. The effect of train meet on wheel wear was analyzed for the whole train, different cars and different axles.

According to the results, all wheels show a wear increase in the case of one train meet, compared to the case of no train meet. At 250, 300, 350 and 400 km/h, the total wheel wear increases by 4.45%, 4.91%, 7.57% and 5.71%, respectively, over the entire operational period. The change in speed has a greater impact on wheel wear increase in the head and tail cars than in the middle car. Moreover, the average wear increase in front-axle wheels is 1.04–2.09 times that in rear-axle wheels on the same bogie.

The results will help to analyze wheel wear more accurately and provide theoretical guidance for wheel repair and maintenance from the perspective of high-speed train meet.

At present, there is a lot of focus on the impact of high-speed train meet on the dynamic performance of vehicles. However, little research is available on the influence of train meet on wheel wear. In this study, a vehicle dynamics model was constructed and the aerodynamic forces generated during high-speed train meet were applied as additional excitation. The effect of train meet on wheel wear was analyzed for the whole train, different cars and different axles. The proposed method can provide a more accurate basis for wear prediction and wheel repair.

The paper presents a techno-economic analysis of the electromechanical equipment of traditional vertical axis water mills (VAWMs) to help investors, mill owners and engineers to preliminary estimate related benefits and costs of a VAWM repowering.

Two sustainable repowering solutions were examined with the additional aim to preserve the original status and aesthetics of a VAWM: the use of a vertical axis water wheel (VAWW) and a vertical axis impulse turbine. The analysis was applied to a database of 714 VAWMs in Basilicata (Italy), with known head and flow.

Expeditious equations were proposed for both solutions to determine: (1) a suitable diameter as a function of the flow rate; (2) the costs of the electromechanical equipment; (3) achievable power. The common operating hydraulic range of a VAWM (head and flow) was also identified. Reality checks on the obtained results are shown, in particular by examining two Spanish case studies and the available literature. The power generated by the impulse turbine (Turgo type) is twice that of a VAWW, but it is one order of magnitude more expensive. Therefore, the impulse turbine should be used for higher power requirements (>3 kW), or when the electricity is delivered to the grid, maximizing the long-term profit.

Since there is not enough evidence about the achievable performance and cost of a VAWM repowering, this work provides expeditious tools for their evaluation.

The purpose of this paper is to adopt a holistic diversity lens with the aim to enhance the understanding of the multifaceted paradigms for diversity management at the tertiary level.

This contribution takes the inspiration of existing diversity paradigms used in business settings and relates them to higher education. It then articulates them in greater depths in line with the diversity segments of the so-called higher education awareness for diversity wheel and seeks a common denominator that may be shared across disciplines by adding an eclectic and context-specific approach.

It was identified that the underlying assumptions which constitute the commonly known diversity paradigms are only partially applicable for the tertiary level. It is further suggested that in view of the highly dynamic kaleidoscope of higher education institutions, multiple, at times conflicting rationales for diversity management need to be addressed.

This paper seeks to address the paucity of studies with regard to diversity management at the tertiary level. By drawing on relevant paradigms and relating them to specific diversity segments, this study intends to make a meaningful scholarly contribution to the existing body of knowledge.

The Sealand is an amphibian accommodating 5 passengers in the standard version, with others permitting up to 8 seats in the cabin and a folding seat beside the pilot. A mail locker is provided aft of the rear seat on the starboard side, baggage being carried in a compartment in the rear of the hull. A toilet can be installed. By removing the readily detachable undercarriage units the Sealand, can be operated as a flying boat with increased pay load.

The purpose of this paper is to improve control performance and safety of a real two-wheeled inverted pendulum (TWIP) robot by dealing with model uncertainty and motion restriction simultaneously, which can be extended to other TWIP robotic systems.

The inequality of lumped model uncertainty boundary is derived from original TWIP dynamics. Several motion restriction conditions are derived considering zero dynamics, centripedal force, ground friction condition, posture stability, control torque limitation and so on. Sliding-mode control (SMC) and model predictive control (MPC) are separately adopted to design controllers for longitudinal and rotational motion, while taking model uncertainty into account. The reference value of the moving velocity and acceleration, delivered to the designed controller, should be restricted in a specified range, limited by motion restrictions, to keep safe.

The cancelation of model uncertainty commonly existing in real system can improve control performance. The motion commands play an important role in maintaining safety and reliability of TWIP, which can be ensured by the proposed motion restriction to avoid potential movement failure, such as slipping, lateral tipping over because of turning and large fluctuation of body.

An inequation of lumped model uncertainty boundary incorporating comprehensive errors and uncertainties of system is derived and elaborately calculated to determine the switching coefficients of SMC. The motion restrictions for TWIP robot moving in 3D are derived and used to impose constraints on reference trajectory to avoid possible instability or failure of movement.