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This paper examines the question;“ does permanent laser marking affect the mechanical performance of a metallic medical component?” The literature review revealed the surprising fact that very little has been presented or studied even though intuition suggests that its effect could be detrimental to a component's fatigue life. A brief investigation of laser marking suggests that defects greater than 25 μm are possible. A theoretical investigation further suggests that this is unlikely to cause issues with relation to fast fracture but is highly likely to cause fatigue life issues. An experimental investigation confirmed that laser marking reduced the fatigue life of a component. This combination of lines of evidence suggests, strongly, that positioning of laser marking is highly critical and should not be left to chance. It is further suggested that medical device designers, especially those related to orthopaedic implants, should consider the position of laser marking in the design process. They should ensure that it is in an area of low stress amplitude. They should also ensure that they investigate worst-case scenarios when considering the stress environment; this, however, may not be straightforward.

Coreflooding experiments have been performed using 1 metre long, sandstone cores and a synthetic, six component (C1, C2, C3, C5, C8 and C16) gas condensate fluid, with a dewpoint close to 4,500 psia. The efficiency of equilibrium gas injection for the mobilisation of liquid condensate has been examined under both high and low interfacial tension (IFT) conditions. The volume of liquid recovered and the composition of both phases have been monitored throughout each experiment and the results used to validate a compositional simulator. Under conditions of maximum liquid dropout and high IFT (σ ≈ .92 mN/m), an average of 6.5% volume of liquid condensate was mobilised in an equilibrium gas injection in a horizontal core, resulting in reduced recovery of the heavier components of the fluid. An improved recovery of 17.2% was obtained in the vertical injection. Under conditions of low IFT (σ ≈ .04 mN/m) however, 24.1% of the liquid was recovered during injection in a horizontal core and 51.6% of liquid was recovered with vertical injection, giving a much increased yield of the heavier ends. The recovery efficiency in a straight depletion on a horizontal core to abandonment pressure averaged 18.8%. This is much lower than for the low tension gas injection. These results are in agreement with other recent studies concerning the influence of IFT and the effects of gravity on gas condensate flow.

The concept of Industry 4.0 has been developed a lot from a theoretical point of view. However, the real applications on production lines remain few in number, due to the difficulties of interoperability between the different production entities and also due to the lack of a control system adapted to the expected flexibility and to the management of the data generated. This article focuses on the development and deployment of a manufacturing execution system (MES) on a production system 4.0. The development stages of the system are explained in detail. The new functionalities and the expected level of performance impose a new logic in the design of advanced systems for controlling and optimizing production. Finally, a proof of concept of an MES was developed and tested on a new technology platform 4.0.

In manufacturing systems, there are several essential tasks to perform before and after the production process. In traditional systems, these tasks were done manually, which can lead to more resource consumption and the risk of human error; however, advanced manufacturing systems and Industry 4.0 tend toward a more autonomous manner. To ensure the compliance of the machining process and the safety of the personnel as well as the machines at the shop floor, the inspection of the overall factory prior to any machining process and the control of conformity of the manufactured parts are necessary in order to know the status of the manufacturing line. This paper proposes a novel modular smart vision system for machine inspection and conformity control of machined parts. Our system uses smart vision technologies embedded in industrial robots and enhanced with image processing and analysis capabilities.The solution also integrates a user interface for human-machine interactions that has been developed with a modular approach, and is designed, launched, and controlled by the manufacturing execution system, allowing agile and customized configuration. By this new approach, the robot inspects all the machines in the factory to check the status before launching the production plan. After the machining process, the system interprets the in situ dimensional analysis for the machined parts and makes decisions about whether the parts are acceptable or require additional machining.