ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF

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                  ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF
                        E-Mail Newsletter

                               No.21
             Issued by the Asian TOP Panel, September 2003

           The Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES)
           The Institution of Engineers, Indonesia (PII)
           The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME)
           The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME)

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About the Asian TOP Panel (ATOP)
    On August 29, 2001, presidents of four engineering societies gathered　
in Japan to pave the way for stepped-up collaboration. They are Chinese
Mechanical Engineering Society, Institution of Engineers Indonesia,
Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Korean Society of Mechanical
Engineers.
    They agreed to establish the Asian TOP Panel (ATOP), which is a　
voluntary body and open to any Asian engineering society and
institution. At the first meeting, they decided to issue monthly E-mail
newsletter which you are reading now. It will carry short technical news
of Asian countries, and be distributed to all individual members of the
ATOP societies and institutions.
    ATOP will meet every two years. The next meeting will be held in
Korea in 2003.

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[Contents]

(1) Haier Launches New Type Washing Machine (Source : CMES)
(2) Taiyuan Heavy Industry Intend to Set up Joint Venture with German
    Company (Source : CMES)
(3) GE Sets up First China Joint Venture (Source : CMES)
(4) Development and Practical Use of Distributed Fiber-optic Strain
    Measurement System (Source : JSME)
(5) A Precise Measuring Method of the Contact Force between Pantograph
    and Contact Wire (Source : JSME)

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(1) Haier Launches New Type Washing Machine (Source : CMES)

Haier Group, a leading Chinese home appliances maker, presented a
brand-new type of washing machine in Japan hoping for expanding its
share in this rich market, according to its officials on Aug.21.
The new type washing machine, featuring dual functions with washing
and drying combined, targets Japan's white-collars aged between 26
and 35.
As a novel cooperation form, the washing machine was designed by
Haier's Japanese business partner Sanyo Electric Co, Ltd, but
produced by Haier and sold with Haier brand.
Sanyo expects this washing machine to enjoy a market share of 10
percent in Japan in one year.
In Japan, Haier saw a 40 percent year-on-year pickup in sales from
January to July this year.
Haier forecasts sales this year may reach up to 10 billion yen
(84 million US dollars).

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(2) Taiyuan Heavy Industry Intend to Set up Joint Venture with German
    Company (Source : CMES)

The board of directors of the Taiyuan Heavy Industry lately passed a
bill for the purpose of setting up the Taiyuan Kranundfoerdertech
Crane Co., Ltd. with the Germany-based Kranundfoerdertech
Niknuernberggmbh.
Sources say, the Kranundfoerdertech Company will have a registered
capital of RMB100 million, RMB75 million of which will be contributed
by the Taiyuan Heavy Industry with its own funds, accounting for 75
percent of the registered capital. (FDI)

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(3) GE Sets up First China Joint Venture (Source : CMES)

The US conglomerate General Electric (GE) on Aug.28 afternoon held a
ground-breaking ceremony for its first plant in China, in Shenyang,
the capital city of the northeastern province of Liaoning.
The joint venture, with Chinese partner Shenyang Blowing Machine
Factory, involves a total investment of 13.6 million US dollars.
GE holds 75 percent of the shares and the Chinese factory 25 percent.
The plant, covering a total acreage of 30,000 square meters, with
a reserve of 56,000 square meters for future expansion, will focus
on the development of China's oil and gas turbine markets, and serve
the demands of GE turbine clients for renovation and upgrading,
according to sources with the joint venture.
GE's turbine products have a history of over 90 years in China, and
GE has provided Chinese enterprises with 56 steam turbines, 160 gas
turbines and 80 hydraulic turbines.

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(4) Development and Practical Use of Distributed Fiber-optic Strain
    Measurement System (Source : JSME)

    Hiroshi Naruse
    Access Network Service Systems Laboratories, NTT

This article briefly introduces a distributed fiber-optic strain
measurement system and some applications developed by NTT Access
Service Systems Laboratories. This system has the advantage of
allowing continuous measurement over several kilometers along a fiber.
This is beneficial when it is applied to various systems to monitor
large-scale structures and natural environments or to detect impending
disasters. Recently, we have developed new distributed fiber-optic
strain measurement equipment, BOTDR (Brillouin Optical Time Domain
Reflectometer). It features low cost and stable strain measurement by
employing heterodyne detection in two steps: optical and electrical
steps. We have confirmed its applicability and effectiveness through
demonstration experiments on actual civil structures such as concrete
piles, a concrete pipe, and a railway tunnel, and developed a river
levee monitoring system and damage detection system for International
America's Cup Class yachts with collaborators. In addition, we
developed a telecommunication tunnel monitoring system to reduce
maintenance costs and improve reliability. It has been installed in
NTT. Optical fiber will help to make our lives safe, as well as
providing broadband telecommunication.

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(5) A Precise Measuring Method of the Contact Force between Pantograph
    and Contact Wire (Source : JSME)

    Mitsuru IKEDA
    Railway Technical Research Institute

The contact force between pantograph and contact wire is an essential
technical quantity to determine the dynamic interaction of pantograph
with the overhead catenary system. Precise measurement of the contact
force is needed for good assessment and maintenance of the overhead
catenary system, and becomes an important issue regarding good
performance of current collection system.
By using the methods currently used, the contact force can be measured
in the frequency range up to 20-40Hz. These methods treat the panhead
as a simple rigid body. But the panhead (pantograph head) vibrates as
an elastic body above 20-40Hz. This leads to large errors in the high
frequency range.
The newly proposed method can measure the contact force more precisely
even if in the frequency above 20-40Hz. This method is based on the
vibration modes superposition, and estimates the elastic vibration of
the panhead by using accelerations at multi-points of the panhead.
Hence, precise measurements can be obtained in the higher frequency
range where elastic vibration of the panhead dominates.

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Editor: Chisachi Kato, International Affairs Committee
Published by The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Shinanomachi-Rengakan Bldg, Shinanomachi 35,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0016, Japan

FAX : 81-3-5360-3508
All Rights Reserved, Copyright C 2003
The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
URL:http//www.jsme.or.jp/English/