oa Editorial

Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering is entering into its fifth volume in 2012. We are publishing articles in various disciplines of mechanical engineering i.e. analytical methods, designs, manufacturing, industrial instruments, mechanical properties, machines, heating and cooling systems, automobiles and industrial processes etc. We will be covering below subject areas in this January issue 2012 of Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering. Sridhar has thoroughly reviewed the developments in the field of thermometry in the last twenty five years. The physical aspects of different technologies depending on temperature measurement methods as well as its applications in various fields' i.e. engineering, atmospheric sciences, biomedicine, military research and related disciplines are comprehensively discussed. Comparative studies of different thermometry systems are given in this article. Theoretic physical principles and developments in radiation thermometry, luminescence thermometry, biomedical thermometry, optical thermometry, thermo-chromic semiconductor thermometry, nano-particle fluorescence thermometry, specular reflection optical band-gap thermometry, antistokes scattering thermometry, acoustic thermometry, ferroelectric thermometry, micro- scale thermometry, interstellar thermometry, fuel cell thermometry have been covered by the author. Malen et al. have recently published an article on optical measurement of thermal conductivity of thin films using fiber aligned frequency domain thermoreflectance (FAFDTR) for different materials [1]. The estimation of fluorescence thermometry (FT) for determining wall surface and bulk fluid temperatures was studied by Kim & Yoda. The factors for increasing the accuracy of fluorescence thermometry and temperature measurements were controlled by taking the ratio of emission signals from fluorophores, fluorescein and sulforhodamine B based on using evanescent-wave illumination [2]. US8016757discloses calibrating methods for temperature estimation technique in biological tissue heat transfer model using backscattered ultrasound data [3]. Microwave sensors measure a temperature of the patient and transmission of the high frequency pulses by magnetic resonance tomography device. Similarly, the invention reported the methods for the measurement of temperature using the fluorescent material through fluorescent temperature sensor [4].The components of Fluorescence Based Thermometry are discussed in WO2011127250.Temperature sensor comprises of fluorescent element from photon source component, temperature measurement probe and signal processing circuit [5]. Another invention relates methods and systems to the radiation sensor used in thermometry for measuring temperature of human body [6]. Mekid presented in his article recent patents on tension monitoring devices for the bolt joints. The recent developments in the bolt joints facilitate the fastener tension in visual and remote inspections. The author has proposed the features of smart bolts to overcome the disasters in industrial plants resulted from bolt losing and insufficient preload issues. Vibration, thermal effects and change in the characteristic of materials are some of the factors considered in bolt failure due to loss of tension. Static mechanical properties of the bolted flange using a simplified nonlinear dynamic model with bi-linear springs was proposed for the analysis of pipe structures. Physical experiments and numerical simulations are performed to confirm coupling vibration behavior [7]. The utilization of an embedded carbon nanotube network in the health monitoring of mechanically fastened cross-ply composites were studied by Thostenson et al. The conductivity of bolted composite joints is modified using an embedded carbon nanotube network and providing evidences for the damage and type of damage which occurs during tensile loading [8]. Feraboli et al. discussed the usage of novel Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform s/g (WISP for strain gage) for performing uniaxial tension tests during static airframe tests and on-board real-time strain measurements on carbon fiber composite specimens during test flights and validation of new aircraft. This device has been used to compare accuracy and repeatability with conventional wired strain gage and extensometer [9]. Stojkov et al. in recent invention describes various designs for bolted joint assembly. The claims in this patent discuss a design which can resist higher threshold force as a bolt is fastened through the reinforcement member and the nut [10]. Robust control of High Precision Positioning System (HPPS) was studied by Raafat et al. The robust adaptive mode control (ARC), adaptive sliding mode control, nominal characteristic trajectory following control(NCTF), robust cross coupled based control (CCC), iterative learning control (ILC), robust controller applications and intelligent techniques based on robust controller, techniques, methodology and approaches and recent patents associated with these techniques were discussed in this article. The review covered the literature published in the last two decades. Some basic types of servomotors used in precision positioning system were also reviewed.