外文翻译--信息时代的机械工程.doc

中国地质大学长城学院本科毕业设计外文资料翻译系别工程技术系专业机械设计制造及其自动化姓名学号2012年3月5日MechanicalEngineeringintheInformationAgeIntheearly1980s,engineersthoughtthatmassiveresearchwouldbeneededtospeedupproductdevelopment.Asitturnsout,lessresearchisactuallyneededbecauseshortenedproductdevelopmentcyclesencourageengineerstouseavailabletechnologyforuse。inanewproductisriskyandpronetofailure.Takingshortstepsisasaferandusuallymoresuccessfullyapproachtoproductdevelopment.Shorterproductdevelopmentcyclesarealsobeneficialinanengineeringworldinwhichbothcapitalandlaborareglobal.Peoplewhocandesignandmanufacturevariousproductscanbefoundanywhereintheworld,butcontaininganewideaishard.Geographicdistanceisnolongerabarriertoothersfindingoutaboutyourdevelopmentsixmonthsintotheprocess.Ifyouvegotashortdevelopmentcycle,thesituationisnotcatastrophicaslongasyoumaintainyoulead.Butifyoureinthemidstofasixyeardevelopmentprocessandacompetitorgetswindofyourworker,theprojectcouldbeinmoreserioustrouble.Theideathatengineersneedtocreatanewdesigntosolveeveryproblemisquicklybecomingobsolete.ThefirststepinthemoderndesignprocessistobrowsetheInternetorotherinformationsystemstoseeifsomeoneelsehasalreadyanewtransmission,oraheatexchangerthatisclosetowhatyouneed.Throughtheseinformationsystem,youmaydiscoverthatsomeonealreadyhasmanufacturingdrawings,numericalcontroltapes,andeverythingelserequiredtomanufatureyourproduct.Engineerscanthenfocustheirprofessionalcompetenceonunsolvedproblems.Intalcklingsuchproblems,theavailabilityofwokstationsandaccesstotheinformationhignwaydramaticallyenhancethecapabilityoftheengineeringteamanditsproductivity.Theseinformationagetoolscangivetheteamaccesstomassivedatabasesofmaterialproperties,standards,technologies,andsuccessfuldesigns.Suchprotesteddesignscanbedownloadedfordirectuseorquicklymodifiedtomeetspecificneeds.Remotemanufacturing,inwhichproductionsaresentoutoveranetwork,isalsopossible.Youcouldendupwithavirtualcompanywhereyoudonthavetoseeanyhardware.Whentheproductiscompletedyoucandirectthemanufaturertodropshipittoyourcustomer.Periodicvisitstothecustomercanbemadetoensurethattheproductyoudesignedworkingaccordingtothespecification.Althoughallofthedevelopmentswontapplyequallytoeverycompany,thepotentialisthere.Customdesignusedtobelefttosmallcompany.Bigcompaniessneeredatittheyhatedtheideaofdealingwithnichemarketssmallvalumcustomsolutions.Hereismyproduct,oneofthebigcompanieswouldsayThisisthebestwecanmakeityououghtlikeit.Ifyoudont,theressmallercompanydownthestreetthatwillworkonyourproblem.Today,nearlyeverymarketisanichemarket,becausecustomersareselective.Ifyouignorethepotentialfortailoringyourproducttospecificcustomersneeds,youwilllosethemajorpartofyourmarketshare.Sincethesenichemarketsaretransient,yourcompanyneedstobeinapositiongtorespondtothemquickly.Theemgergenceofnichemarketsanddesignondemandhasalteredthewayengineersconductresearch.Today,researchiscommonlydirectedtowardsovlingparticularproblems.Althoughthissitustionisprobablytemporary,muchuncommittedtechnology,developedatgovernmentexpenseorwrittenoffbymajorcorporationgs,isavailabletodayatverylowcost.Followingmodestmodificationgs,suchtechnologycanofenbeuseddirectlyinproductdevelopment,whichallowsmanyorganizationstoavoidtheexpenseofanextensiveresearcheffort.Oncethetechnologyisfreeofmajorobstacles,theresearcheffortcanfocusonovercomingthebarrierstocommercializationgratherthanonpursuingnewandinteresting,butundefined,alternatives.Whenviewinthisprospective,engineeringresearchmustfocusprimarilyonremovingthebarrierstorapidcommercilizationgofknowntechnologies.Muchofthiseffortmustaddressqualityandreliabilityconcerns,whichareforemostinthemindsoftodaysconsumers.Clearly,areputationgforpoorqualityissynonymouswithbadbusiness.Everythingpossibleincludingthoroughinspectionattheendofthemanufacturinglineandautomaticreplacementofdefectiveproductsmustbedongtoassurethatthecustomerreceivesaproperlyfunctiongingproduct.Researchhastofocusonthecostbenefitoffatorssuchasreliability.Asreliabilityincreases,manufanturingcostsandthefinalcostsofthesystemwilldecrease.Having30junkattheendofaproductionlinenotonlycostsaforturnbutalsocreatsanopportunityforacompetitortotakeyourideaandsellittoyourcustomers.Centraltotheprocessofimprovingreliabilityandlowingcostsistheintensiveandwidespreaduseofdesignsoftware,whichallowsengineerstospeedupeverystageofthedesignprocess.Shorteningeachstage,however,maynotsufficientlyreducethetimerequiredfortheentireprocess.Therefore,attentionmustalsobedevotedtoconcurrentengineeringsoftwarewithshareddatabasescanbeaccessedbyallmembersofthedesignteam.AswemovemorefullyintotheInformationAge,successwillrequirethattheengineerpossesssomeuniqueknowledgeofandexperienceinboththedevelopmentandthemanagementoftechnology.Successwillrequirebroadknowledgeandskillsaswellasexpertiseinsomekeytechnologiesanddisciplinesitalsorequireakeenawarenessofthesocialandeconomicfactorsatworkinthemarketplace.Increasingly,inthefuture,routinproblemswillnotjustifyheavryengineeringexpenditures,andengineerswillbeexpectedtoworkcooperativelyinsolvingmorechallenging,moredemandingproblemsinsubstantiallylesstime.Wehavebegunanewphaseinthepracticeofengineering.Itoffersgreatpromiseandexcitementasmoreandmoreproblemsolvingcapabilityisplacedinthehandsofthecomputerizedandwiredengineer.Toassuresuccess,thecapabilityofourtoolsandtheunquenchedthirstforbetterproductsandsystemsmustbematchedbythejoyofcreationthatmarksallgreatengineeringendeavors.mechanicalengineeringisagreatprofession,anditwillbecomeevengreateraswemakethemostoftheopportunitiesofferedbytheInformationAge.Manyengineershaveastheirfunctionthedesigningofproductsthataretobebroughtintorealitythroughtheprocessingorfabricationofmaterials.Inthiscapacitytheyareakeyfatorinthematerialselectionmanufaturingprocedure.Adesignengineer,betterthananyotherperson,shouldknowwhatheorshewantsadesigntoaccomplish.Heknowswhatassumptionshehasmadeaboutserviceloadsandrequirements,whatserviceenvironmenttheproductmustwithstand,andwhatappearancehewantsthefinalproducttohave.Inordertomeettheserequirementshemustselectandspecifythematerial（s）tobeused.Inmostcases,inordertoutilizethematerialandtoenabletheproducttohavethedesiredform,heknowsthatcertainmanufacturingprocesseswillhavetobeemployed.Inmanyinstances,theselectionofaspecificmaterialmaydictatewhatprocessingmustbeused.Atthesametime,whencertainprocessesaretobeused,thedesignmayhavetobemodifiedinorderfortheprocesstobeutilizedeffectivelyandeconomically.Certainlydimensionaltolerancescandictatetheprocessing.Inanycase,inthesequenceofconvertingthedesignintoreality,suchdecisionsmustbemadebysomeone.Inmostdistancestheycanbemademosteffectivelyatthedesignstage,bythedesignerifhehasareasonablyadequateknowledgeconcerningmaterialsandmanufacturingprocesses.Otherwise,decisionsmaybemadethatwilldetragtfromtheeffectivenessoftheproduct,ortheproductmaybeneedlesslycostly.Itisthusapparentthatdesignengineersareavitalfatorinthemanufacturingprocess,anditisindeedthecompanyiftheydesignforproducibilitythatis,foreffientproduction.Manufacturingengineersselectandcoordinatespecificprocessesandequipmenttobeused,orsuperviseandmanagetheiruse.Somedesignspecialtoolingthatisusedsothatstandardmachinescanbeutilizedinproducingspecialproducts.Theseengineersmusthaveabroadknowledgeofmachineandprocesscapabilitiesandofmaterials,sothatdesiredoperationscanbedoneeffectivelyandefficientlywithoutoverloadingordamagingmachinesandwithoutadverselyaffectingthematerialsbeingprocessed.Thesemanufacturingengineersalsoplayanimportantroleinmanufacturing.Arelativelysmallgroupofengineersdesignthemachinesandequipmentusedinmanufacturing.Theyobviouslyaredesignengineersand,relativetotheirproducts,theyhavethesameconcernsoftheinterrelationshipofdesign,materials,andmanufacturingprocesses.However,theyhaveanevengreaterconcernregardingthepropertiesofthematerialsthattheirmachinesaregoingtoprocessandtheinterreactionofthematerialsandthemachines.Stillanothergroupofengineersthematerialsengineersdevotetheirmajoreffortstowarddevelopingnewandbettermaterials.They,too,mustbeconcernedwithhowthesematerialscanbeprocessedandwiththeeffectstheprocessingwillhaveonthepropertiesofthematerials.Althoughtheirrolesmaybequitedifferent,itisapparentthatalargeproportionofengineersmustconcernthemselveswiththeinterrelationshipbetweenmaterialsandmanufacturingprocesses.Lowcostmanufaturedoesnotjusthappen.Thereisacloseandinterdependentrelationshipbetweenthedesignofaproduct,selectionofmaterials,selectionofprocessesandequipment,andtoolingselectionanddesign.Eachofthesestepsmustbecarefullyconsidered,planned,andcoordinatedbeforemanufacturingstarts.Thisleadtime,particularlyforcomplicatedproducts,maytakemonths,evenyears,andtheexpenditureoflargeamountofmoneymaybeinvolved.Typically,theleadtimeforacompletelynewmodelofanautomobileis