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You may find this site interesting; a discussion of the mathematics of cold-welding. The company responsible makes a friction-enhancer to increase the strength of press fit joints. Apparently the mathematics of interacting surfaces in relative motion is known as 'tribology'...

The Khmer Rouge are alive and well, living in Sherwood Forest... Naturally in our new pre-industrial Utopia the world will support only a tiny percentage of its current population, so we'll have to get rid of several billion souls. Obviously the first to go should be those whos skills won't be...

Global temperature and atmospheric CO2 levels are historically fluctuating, that has been proven. The scale of the effect of industrialised man on these processes is debatable, but how relevant is it? In a self-correcting system we may slightly hasten or delay the earth's natural cycles, but we...

It suprises me how little support jmw seems to be getting in this thread. Nobody can deny that there are innumerable crappy products of all types on the market, but nobody here wants to admit that one of our engineering brethren was responsible for them. Keeping in mind that this is a forum...

Thanks Beanseed. I had some discussions recently with a local plantation company (a subsiduary of Hancocks). A while ago they advertised Australia-wide for Forest Engineers and didn't get a call! They eventually found a couple of New Zealanders from Otago University, but had 'personality...

The following excerpt appeared in "The Australian" newspaper's 'Wealth' liftout, 28/1: Asked in the 'Financial Times' why the Poms and Yanks tolerate such poor quality cars, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz said "The British and the Americans are not anal, which is why we will...

I'm an Ag Engineer in Australia, looking to get into the forest industry. Forest engineering is not a recognised disciple in this country; the usual forestry qualification is an Applied Science degree. I'd appreciate any comments from those who know on how an 'engineering approach' would be...

re "They don't teach this in Engineering School"; they're starting to. The Institution of Engineers (Australia) is apparently now insisting that Universities teach at least four semesters of 'team based' units or else loose their certification. How successful it will be remains to be...

According to a recent Sutton Tools chart, 'G' is the ISO designation for BSPF (British Standard Pipe Fastening), which used to be BSPParallel. The tapered version, BSPT, is now internationally known to everyone (?!) as 'Rc'. Thank God for Standards. Is it certain that Gas threads are exactly...

Thanks Jim, that's exactly what I didn't want to hear! What I have in mind is a 'pig' trailer, with two closely spaced axles slightly to the rear of the load center, and towed via a drawbar. The weight of the (empty) container could then be supported on the 3 metres in the middle, and the...

corgum, Yes, I meant the Three Gorges dam (dunno where five came from, sorry). Anyway, it's a good case study for this particular thread. Is there more "opportunity for engineering excellence" in China, where a visionary project is marred by beaurocratic corruption, an...

I am designing a trailer to carry a standard 20' shipping container. The trailer must be able to be dismantled and packed inside the container (preferably by one man) along with the towing vehicle. I anticipate a trailer GVM of around 4000kg. I gather that the weight of these containers is...

Broadly speaking, 'open' societies throw people into the river and say "You should learn to swim, or else you may drown". 'Represive regimes' drag people to the riverbank and say "learn to swim or else I'll drown you!". The end result is the same. So what are the...

My favorite Neville Shute novel is "Trustee from the Toolroom". It illustrates the respect for excellence of the engineering mindset, and the strength of a man who is happy and confident in his field. Those who liked Sun Tzu's ideas may appreciate Karl von Clausewitz' "On War".

I would suggest that the 'mode of delivery' of your studies would be irrelevant, the important thing is that the degree has the relevant accreditations. On-line Universities per se have a bad reputation, because there is a potential for them to be nothing more than degree mills or outright...

Shavings would come from a timber thicknesser or moulding machine. Try your local cabinet-maker or value-adding sawmill. Why do you need wood shavings? Small melons like honeydews or rockmelons can be packed tightly in a standard single layer box without any filler, and for watermelons in bulk...