Material flow

About: Material flow is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3050 publications have been published within this topic receiving 36844 citations. The topic is also known as: material stream.

Inside out. Exploring invisible spaces of material flow through a critical design process

Abstract: This thesis is a creative exploration of sustainability and design, investigating different aspects of materiality and how critical design could be used as a method for understanding the material flow and identifying value opportunities. Through a collaboration project between University of Lapland and Westenergy, waste-to-energy plant located in Western Finland, the thesis is identifying invisible spaces of material flow and discussing how they could be communicated, made visible and understood. By studying the link between human, material and environment, the aim is also to understand how to work as a designer in this changing world. The thesis is describing the complex issue of creating for sustainability, thus discussing the role of design in shaping a sustainable future. The study is drawing on design research methodology, supported by reflexive research and practice-based approaches such as workshop. Through identifying patterns, topics and themes in the data, the analysis is recognizing opportunities for communicating transparency. The collaboration project is including three creative processes, each building on the previous one, functioning as a vehicle for the research. The study argues that a reason to environmental alienation is that parts of the material flow are hidden to most people and therefore difficult to trace. These gaps could be visualized and understood through methods of critical design. The thesis is opening up the possibility for further research on how critical design could be applied as a service design method and on developing activities directed to design for sustainability.

Flow measurement method and system of solid material conveying

Abstract: The invention provides a flow measurement method and a device of solid material conveying. The method comprises the steps of: 1, measuring an instantaneous material flow cross section of a solid material in some position, 2, calculating the flowing volume of the solid material in a certain unit time according to a product of the area of the instantaneous material flow cross section and instantaneous material flow speed, 3, calculating an instantaneous flow rate of the solid material in the unit time according to a product of the volume and specific gravity, and further performing integral operation to obtain a flow rate of the solid material in a continuous time period. The measurement system consists of belt conveying equipment and a laser measurement device, wherein the laser measurement device comprises laser measurement instruments and a computer, and the laser measurement instruments are mounted above the belt conveying equipment and connected with the computer in a wired or wireless manner. The measurement system has the benefits that the measurement of the laser measurement instrument is not influenced by belt operation; the laser measurement instrument is high in precision; the equipment is convenient to mount and simple to maintain; and the measurement precision and stability are improved when the laser measurement instruments are used simultaneously.

Design and implementation of a hybrid manufacturing facility

Abstract: A method for the design of hybrid, cellular/functional, facilities is presented in this paper. This method targets the minimization of inter-cell material handling and the maximization of intra-cell directional material flow. Furthermore it develops a shop redesign plan that maximizes the net benefit obtained from the facility rearrangement.