The paper presents the results obtained after the tribology of composite materials with organic components intended for the manufacturing of brake shoes for motor and towed rolling stock. We analyzed the tribological behaviour of the samples of experimental composite material in comparison to the phosphorous cast iron frequently used for manufacturing brake shoes.

For any industrial entity that is put into operation, the problem of maintaining its functioning if possible, with corresponding technical and technological parameters without failure is an important issue. This is provided by the study of the technical availability of that entity. Technical availability consists of two directions, namely: increasing the reliability, i.e. the duration of the good functioning, under operating conditions and for a well-established period and ensuring adequate maintenance. The two directions should be studied together in order to find solutions to increase the service life while reducing maintenance requests. In the present case, for the clinker coolers, only real reliability has been studied with the aim of finding practical solutions for increasing the service life. Achieving the proposed objective required the observation of the operation / failure of such a machine over nine months and the statistical processing of the information obtained.

For any industrial entity put into operation, it is of interest to its ability to fulfil its mission under certain conditions, at a given time or during a given period of time, assuming that the means of maintenance are provided. This represents availability and is a complex form of system / product quality, as it includes both reliability and maintainability. Availability can be increased by: maximum reliability, maintenance, respectively by maximum maintainability, correct use of equipment / machines, renewal, optimization of reliability and maintainability characteristics, but provided that such balancing does not lead to contradictory solutions. The availability of a product will be higher the more reliable it is and requires less maintenance. It should be borne in mind that in order to ensure a certain level of reliability, maintenance costs must not exceed 10...20% of the purchase price of the product each year [1]. Restoration of reliability to a normal level is achieved through corrective or preventive maintenance. In practice, a compromise is sought between the purchase price, the service imposed and the accepted risk, as in order to achieve availability through reliability, very reliable parts must be used, which cost 5-10 times more than usual [2]. Maintenance-based availability results from the consideration that reliability is a probability of trouble-free operation over a period of time. Reliability is technically and financially limited. Defects in the initial period of operation of the product, as well as those in the final period derive from inevitable physical phenomena, and defects in the maturity period have a normal accidental character. In addition, the reliability can deteriorate over time even during storage, thus causing additional damage. Reliability is restored to its normal level through corrective or preventive maintenance, as failures are foreseeable or unpredictable. Product availability is the result of a combination of reliability and maintainability and they support each other. Increasing the maintainability of products leads to increased availability. In this case, the real maintainability of a burning oven of a cement factory was studied, with the aim of finding practical solutions to increase the service life. Achieving the proposed objective required monitoring the operation / failure of such equipment for nine months and statistical processing of the information obtained.

This study is a preliminary investigation to determine the feasibility of creating an experimental model of pressure analysis at different points in the air intake system of an internal combustion engine. The purpose of the CFD analysis is to determine whether or not the value of the pressure obtained from the air intakes is influenced by their geometry or position. The study presents both the results of the analysis and the steps and parameters used in the numerical modeling process. The software used to create the numerical model is Fluent from the suite of software provided by Ansys under the academic license.

This paper presents a comparative study regarding the influence of the air filter location on the intake system temperature in the case of engines for drifting. The heat flow dispersion map at the engine compartment was determined for four different cases. The measurements were performed with a thermographic camera in the area of the air filter and intake manifold. The results obtained after the test contribute to the efficiency of the thermal management of the engine by reducing the temperature of the intake air.