The field of engineering has expanded considerably in the past decade. This growth is supported by advances in biological science, physics and technology, which have created new opportunities for development of tools for fine-tuning many engineering processes. The discipline focuses both on development of new biomaterials, analytical methodologies and on the application of concepts drawn from computing, mathematics, chemical and physical sciences to advance engineering practices. In the past ten years alone we have witnessed these 5 exciting new advancements in engineering. For more helpful engineering advice, news and career opportunities subscribe to NewEngineer.com here.
 

Sparse matrix factorization in the implicit finite element method on petascale architecture
 

There has been significant advancement in the development of high performance computing in simulations and modelling in today’s technology. However, petascale computing platforms are yet to reach their full potential in assisting engineers to solve their problems. Recently, the robust high-performance and easy-to-use software, Watson Sparse Matrix Package (WSMP), which relies on matching a critical algorithm such as the sparse matrix factorization, central to many problems in science, engineering, and optimization, has been able to achieve unprecedented level of parallel scalability and robustness of the direct solver in implicit finite element method – something that will be of great benefit to high-fidelity modelling and design in science and engineering.
 

Generalized modelling of cutting tool geometries for unified process simulation
 

Mathematical models were previously used in predicting metal cutting process performance for each tool-operation combinations, however the need for dedicated models for each metal cutting application has always limited the use of science-based process simulation and optimization method in engineering. The unified geometric modelling of solid and indexable tools presented by Dr. Kilic and Professor Altintas from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of British Columbia in Canada can now be used in generalized prediction of cutting forces, vibrations and dimensional surface errors generated on the part. It relies on the same model of definition of the tangent and the rake of face vectors at discrete elements along the cutting edge.
 

Concept of an advanced simulation-based design for engineering support of offshore plant equipment industries and its realization method
 

The introduction of simulation-based design is intended to address the challenges offshore plant equipment is faced with and give engineers the tools to carry out the desired design tasks. Now, a team from the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering & Hanyang University has been able to address the temporal inefficiencies that occur during re-designing and re-modelling of equipment after the verification of the design weakness, thanks to the newly developed simulation-based design. Called feedback loop design FLD, it uses a remote component environment RCE software framework to first correct the weakness found in this design before entering verification process.
 

Integration of Taguchi’s method and multiple-input, multiple-output ANFIS inverse model for the optimal design of a water-cooled condenser
 

Heat-conduction problems in high-heat-load applications have always been a crucial aspect in the design of a condenser. Despite the theoretical knowledge of experimental and analytical analysis on heat conduction and flow fluid measurement, apparatus errors still remain a major challenge. Recent improvements in model and test resulted in a water-cooled condenser, which integrates Taguchi’s method and a multi-adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system-based inverse method.  This breakthrough offers a combined advantage of neural system and fuzzy logic systems in effective modelling of non-linear systems.
 

Application of different surrogate models on the optimization of centrifugal pump
 

Centrifugal pumps are widely used to transport liquid in engineering, and their optimization is very meaningful for energy conservation. Recently, the performance of centrifugal pumps was improved through a combination of numerical simulation, design of experiment, surrogate models and optimization algorithm. As the key component of a centrifugal pump, impeller is improved through the optimization of the three main parameters, namely blade inlet incidence angle, blade wrap angle and blade outlet angle.
 

The recent advances in the growing field of engineering, instrumentation, and administration see contributions both in the sphere of theoretical and practical problems associated with the development of engineering technology.

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