A KNOWLEDGE-BASED EXPERT SYSTEM FOR SILICATE GLASS PLANT MAINTENANCE

A Knowledge-Based Expert System (KBES) which will aid diagnosis of plant faults within Silicate Glass Plant domain was developed. Knowledge was elicited using a combination of techniques (protocol-generation, teach and teach back, protocol analysis techniques) and root cause failure analy-sis was used to identify primary cause of fault as they were presented by the domain experts. The elicited knowledge were structured and coded in form of rules using C Language Integrated Produc-tion System „CLIPS SHELL‟. The KBES developed comprised a main system and four sub-systems with utility files. Performance evaluation was carried out on the KBES for consistency and exactness. Field tests were conducted and the data acquired were analyzed using some maintenance parame-ters. Results obtained when the KBES was used in the plant‟s faults diagnosis compared with when it was not used showed that with expert system in use, an average reduction in plant downtime of 36.62% was obtained for field test carried out. Also, 24.28% and 34.03% were obtained for average increase in Plant Availability and Total Plant Maintenance Productivity respectively.

Grinding of flat glass with Fe- and Cu-based diamond tools

Preparation of grinding wheels is the most important effective factor in glass machining. This article presents the comparison of the iron- and copper-based grinding tools. The performance of the tools is investigated based on technical and commercial aspects using same cutting speeds, feeds, and sizes of diamond grits. Scanning electron microscope is used in order to observe the microstructures of cutting tools. The service life of the grinding tools is determined on the production line in a flat glass plant. A lifetime of Fe-based diamond tools is longer compared to the copper-based wheels. The impact of metal bond materials on the service life is examined. The results show that the Fe-based tools are more economical and more useful for grinding of glass. The holding of Fe-based bonding to diamond grit is stronger than the copper-based ones.

Introduction: Surface Histories

The first section of this issue brings together four essays on “surfaces” – a subject matter which might seem conspicuous or, indeed, palpable enough. Just think of the sheets of paper, window panes, and haptic interfaces surrounding you: the world, evidently, is diffused with surfaces, membranes, and boundaries of all sorts. Some of these things have been salient, for obvious reasons in fields such as media studies, or implicit in notions such as “boundary object”: the retina, photographic plates, basilar membranes, the skin, or various forms of “displays” immediately come to mind. Not even mentioning their immense metaphoricity, surfaces are the entities that make things visible, inscribable, or knowable. But not all of them have been so salient. In fact, most surface-phenomena arguably – and, typically, for similarly obvious reasons – haven't received much scholarly notice at all: plastic wraps, lacquers, lubricants, coatings, silicon wavers, cell membranes, glass, plant leaves, the ozone layer.