Over the years, the importance of the creativity inclusively in the field of design activities was highlighted. In accordance with the opinions of certain researchers, the divergent thinking could contribute to the increase of creative processes efficiency. On the other hand, the axiomatic design method is considered as a method able to stimulate the technical creativity when the problem of designing a mechanical equipment is stated. To increase the efficiency of using the axiomatic design method, the possibility of selecting the most convenient solution among many available solutions could be discussed. The analysis revealed that there are many methods that could be applied in the process of optimum solution selection among many available solutions. In this paper, some aspects concerning the possibilities of using the method of analytic hierarchy process are analyzed, inclusively by considering a case study concerning a device for investigating the universal horizontal lathe rigidity. Afterwards, the first axiom from axiomatic design method was applied to define the selected solution for the approached device.

This papers purpose is to highlight the positive aspects that can be drown from using a functional approach based on functional analysis and on TRIZ functional modeling in products design. Since the function notion linked to products design is present and very broadly discussed in many papers why not taken into consideration also the functional modeling from TRIZ where functions are seen as useful and harmful, combined with functional analysis for example. An enlarged view of such contradictions leads to solve problems and help to a better understanding of the product and its functions and why not in emerging new solutions. In this paper, an internal functional analysis approach followed by a useful/harmful point of view to inventoried functions is done for a mandrel. The harmful effects induced by technical functions can be used as starting points for improvements.

So-called llightweights materials (aluminum, magnesium, titanium) and their alloys due to multiple applications in various leading industries (aeronautics, automotive, electrical) always stayed in researchers attention both in order to improve their mechanical characteristics and to optimize technologies for cutting processing them. This paper is part of these concerns by trying to find answers to some questions about high-speed drilling of electrolytic aluminum parts and has as targets of the investigation the following: the material machinability, the working parameters optimization, the tool used in drilling and the quality obtained after machining.

MATEC Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in Materials science, Engineering and Chemistry

Centering cylindrical parts is a very common operation meet in different cutting processes on various types of machine tools. To this purpose they are intended to use auxiliary assemblies known as "centering devices", they can achieve centering "between centers" on exterior or interior cylindrical parts surfaces, and are of the following types: universal, special or specialized, single or multiple. Solutions constructive diversity and the their drive variants known in technical literature is huge and mainly is limited numerically by restrictions related on the one hand, by technical indicators: diameter range of machining parts production batch number, type of the drive, and the machine-tools type that will make his job, positioning accuracy required, and on the other hand, economic indicators: processing costs, cost device maintenance costs. Limiting the topic only to the cylindrical parts with at least two steps of diameters that require centering on outer cylindrical surfaces, the known centering devices variants are reduced mainly to those using pairs of V-shaped prisms and with synchronous movement. The difficulty of working with such devices is the multitude and softness adjustments to be made; so that the part axis remains invariant spatial after fixing the cylindrical part on at least two levels simultaneously. The paper proposes a special prism profiled, used in the construction of such centering device in which one of the operative surfaces of the prism is not flat, but curved surface, which was determined analytically.