Ever wonder why HP/Torque fall off after a cetain RPM?

You're not the only one...
In short, from the first reply of that thread...

The relation between torque, power and angular speed is



Power falls off below a peak located at high engine speed, because less fuel/air (energy source) is brought in and burned per second. If that were the only factor, then power output would be proportional to angular speed



and torque would remain constant down to idle. In fact passenger car engines have a fairly broad and flat torque curve. See the curves at, e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_band

However engine efficiency drops with at low speeds since combustion chamber shape, bore/stroke ratio, manifold runner shape and length, valve lift and intake/exhaust valve overlap, to name just a few factors, are tuned for best performance at higher engine speeds. Thus torque eventually falls. In racing cars, the tuning is "peakier," that is, they produce far more peak power but only over a narrow RPM range. As you might expect, the torque curve isn't as flat in this case, and it falls off more rapidly. See Fig. 3 here
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/tech/hp_torque.html

Vehicles that are optimized for very high torque at very low vehicle speed either have no high end to speak of (road graders, bulldozers) or, if they need both, use different systems (diesel-electric locomotives).

Update 12/13/10: revised picture links

Nanotechnology, what can't it do?

Link

The storage and generation of electricity is a hotbed of scientific study around the world. New and improved methods of storing electricity have a myriad of potential uses from phones and laptops that run longer to new electric vehicles with much greater driving range.

At the center of much of the research in the storage and generation of power in batteries and other devices are carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotube has been studied for decades and new advances over the last few years have made the nanotubes easier to produce and have offered breakthroughs in the use of carbon nanotubes.

Microsystems and Nanotech: Why I am interested

Here is a short presentation I made for GE1000, Intro to Engr. Projects, on MS/NT

Link

Got Power Needs? Get an Energy Box.

With the announcement of Bloom Energy's Energy "Servers," the green movement took another step to being practical on the corporate level.  Companies with huge energy demands like websites such as eBay, Google, etc, with many servers demanding a power bill of, for eg, $1million per month, more cost-efficient methods to feed these beasts will sound very attractive.  From DailyTech:

 The so-called "Bloom Energy Servers" – which are about as tall as an adult male – can use virtually any hydrocarbon fuel (methane, propane, ethanol, gasoline, liquified coal) and produce energy twice as efficiently as a coal plant.  Bloom Energy is trying to revolutionize the power generation industry – the key is cutting out the middle-man (power transmission) and embracing a modular design akin to servers, the backbone of the internet.

Bloom also wants to expand into the consumer market around the $3000 range.  This could get more consumers on the alternative bandwagon as solar and wind power are not practical/cost efficient for most Americans. 

The real flesh of Bloom Energy's plan, though, is its planned consumer debut which will be carried out over the next few years.  Bloom aims at providing consumers with $3,000 units that will produce enough power to support the average home at minimal fuel cost.  It plans to push the power generation industry towards the same model that made the internet so fabulously successful -- server-based scaling.  In fact, it refers to its products as energy "servers" -- entirely flexible, modular power units.

There is one idea that has not been touched yet: If the cells could be downsized to fit in a car, could the idea of a fuel cell car like the GM Autonomy come sooner? 

My thoughts on the Toyota dilemna

Toyota, before 2010, is probably best known through the manufacturing world as the standard for quality and lean manufacturing through the Toyota Production System. Many principles used throughout the Quality world stem from their techniques to eliminate waste and make a better product.  Part of the quality environment includes finding problems before a customer uses it. 

Fast forward to 2010: A problem is found with the gas pedal of over 4.5M Toyota cars.  From the FAQ

The issue involves a friction device in the pedal designed to provide the proper “feel” by adding resistance and making the pedal steady and stable. This friction device includes a “shoe” that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation. Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly. In some cases, friction could increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or, in rare cases, the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open

I have a few questions for Toyota:

• Was there any feedback from customers saying they wanted the "feel"in the first place?  This is like GM, Chrysler and Ford sticking with the traditional knobs to roll down windows over the safer buttons because "it looked better"
• Why wasn't this material tested?  With any friction in play, the force might be enough for the pedal to come back?

Having we gone faster than light?

Or is it just an illusion?

The researchers observed that single photons that completely penetrated the stack passed through in about 12.84 femtoseconds. If the team added an additional single layer of low refractive index material to the stack at the end the photon took an additional 3.52 femtoseconds to pass through the stack.

However, if the team added a single high refractive index layer to the end of the stack the single photons were able to pass through the entire stack in 5.34 femtoseconds. With the photon passing through the stack in 5.34 femtoseconds the photon appears to travel at faster than light speeds.

  In my opinion, no, the word "appears" is a big clue.  Plus, it required going through a refractive layer to achieve such speed. The interference between the waves altered the tests too.

Most importantly, the low amount of photos being able to make such speeds made it statistically irrelevant. More studies will be needed.

Original Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-01/nios-std012610.php

Updates for 1/19

Hope everyone had a great new year's.  As for the experiments, I will not be doing the analog computer as I have moved to Platteville to attend for school and did not bring the DMM.  The memory module might be done later as well as any op-amp circuits since I will need to purchase the necessary short circuits.

One project I will run will be more of a case study of the importance of education and the BSME from my time at Jorgensen Conveyors...this should be far more simple as it will only require simulations be run in Inventor