No abstract

Government legislation and public opinion are the main drivers behind the movement of manufacturing companies towards sustainable production. Fundamentally, companies want to avoid future financial penalties and the industry is therefore under pressure to adapt new techniques and practices in order to become environmentally friendly. The cost efficiency of metal cutting operations is highly dependent on accuracy, excellent surface finish and minimised tool wear and, to this end, has traditionally made abundant use of cutting fluid in machining operations. However, these cutting fluids have been a major contributor to environmental and health issues. In recent years an enormous effort to eradicate these adverse effects has been made with one important focus being the implementation of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). In the present work the authors have reviewed the current state of the art in MQL with a particular focus on drilling, turning, milling and grinding machining operations.Overall it is concluded that MQL has huge potential as a substitute for conventional flood cooling.

Background Recruitment to trials in primary care is often difficult, particularly when practice staff need to identify study participants with acute conditions during consultations. The Scottish Acute Recruitment Management Application (SARMA) system is linked to general practice electronic medical record (EMR) systems and is designed to provide recruitment support to multi-centre trials by screening patients against trial inclusion criteria and alerting practice staff if the patient appears eligible. For patients willing to learn more about the trial, the software allows practice staff to send the patient's contact details to the research team by text message. Aim To evaluate the ability of the software to support trial recruitment. Design of study Software evaluation embedded in a randomised controlled trial.

Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) is a material which has been widely used in the aerospace and automobile industries since the 1980s, and has been classified as a hard to machine material. During the intervening years only a limited amount of research has been conducted into the cutting action of MMCs. As with traditional materials it is important to understand the wear mechanisms that contribute to tool wear reducing tool life. This review has been carried out to establish the optimum machining parameters vital to maximizing tool life whilst producing parts at the desired quantity and quality. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the machining parameters for these hard to machine material MMC.

A multivariate regression analysis and time-dependent maximum pit depth growth model was developed using maximum pit depths and pipeline operational parameters, which includes temperature, CO 2 partial pressure, flow rate, pH, sulfate ion, chloride ion and water cut. This statistical analysis, which used ten years Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement (UTM) data from non-piggable onshore pipelines, accounted for different categories of maximum pitting rates -low, moderate, high and severe. The model was validated using field data from twelve operating pipelines and the results agreed well with the field data.