BACKGROUND Leakage of fluid occurs along the longitudinal folds within the wall of an inflated high-volume, low-pressure cuff. Theoretically, lubrication of the cuff with a water-soluble gel might prevent aspiration by plugging the channels in the cuff wall. Pulmonary aspiration during anesthesia has been linked with postoperative pneumonia and during critical illness causes ventilator-associat...

We have been developing a process design CAE system to predict die wear life in the process design stage for the hot forging of steel. Our goal is to reduce production costs by shortening the development period, while maximizing the life of the die. In our system, we use an expression that defines the relationship between die wear, die strength, and friction factors, such as die pressure, slidi...

In warm and hot forging, the dies are subjected to high contact pressures and temperatures. The selection of the die material, hardness and coating is critical for increasing die life. Recent studies indicate that ceramic dies and various surface treatment techniques represent, in certain applications, cost effective techniques for improving die life. This paper reviews the state of technology ...

In the conventional continuous casting of steel, either mold powder or oil can be added to lubricate the mold from sticking to the solidifying steel shell. The mold powder melts to form a molten slag or flux layer, and also acts to protect the molten steel from oxidation, to insulate the molten steel from heat loss, to absorb inclusions from the molten steel, to regulate heat transfer to mold w...

The heat flow paradox provides evidence that a dynamic weakening mechanism may be important in understanding fault friction and rupture. We present here a specific model for dynamic velocity weakening that uses the mechanics of well-studied industrial bearings to explain fault zone processes. An elevated fluid pressure is generated in a thin film of viscous fluid that is sheared between nearly ...

This paper presents experimental measurements of the approach and rebound of a particle colliding obliquely with a wall in a viscous fluid. Steel and glass particles 12.7mm in diameter were used. The experiments were performed using a thick Zerodur wall (a glass-like material) with various mixtures of glycerol and water. Normal and tangential coefficients of restitution were defined from the ra...

A fundamental problem in wall-bounded particle-laden flows is how to treat the interaction of a solid particle suspended in a viscous fluid with a rigid wall. As a first step towards understanding this complex multiscale process, we study the near-field interaction and rebound of a sedimenting particle from a horizontal solid surface. A computational approach based on the Multiple-Relaxation Ti...