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NEWSMotovated Design & Analysis Newsletter - October 2009Hello everyone, It's getting busy again here at Motovated, with some really innovative projects on the go. I recently presented a couple of guest lectures for the final year Computational Solid Mechanics course by Elijah Van Houten at Canterbury University. These lectures were based around some real-life applications of Finite Element Analysis (FEA), including some pitfalls of free, limited FEA versions, and the challenges involved in getting meaningful results at re-entrant corners. This issue's tips and tricks section below is based on some of this material. Motovated is also featured in the last issue of Bright magazine, along with a number of other companies doing cutting edge 3D virtual modelling and design. We will have a link to this article when it is placed on the NZTE website, and highlight it in our next newsletter for anyone who missed it. With all the talk going on around the recession, which has officially ended according to the OECD and IMF, we have also included an interesting commentary on investing in a recession. Also below is a brief comment on the Closer Economic Relations agreement New Zealand has with Australia and what it means for New Zealand businesses. You can also find a joke, another brain teaser and answers to last issue's question. Enjoy the holiday over Labour Weekend, and Canterbury Anniversary Day coming up in November!
Greg Morehouse Motovated's 2010 Desktop Calendars
Tips & Tricks - watch out for those re-entrant corners!This issue's tip relates to analysis of re-entrant stresses in Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Consider a tee bracket subjected to a horizontal force. This is just a simple example, but as the mesh refinement increases the corner stress is shown to be diverging - not converging! How do you know what the actual stress will be? The corner stress can be calculated easily by hand, but this example shows one of the challenges of using FEA accurately.
Australian Economic Stimulus PackageDid you know... New Zealand businesses are also eligible for funding from the Australia Economic Stimulus (AES) Package, due to the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement with Australia. This is because the CER treats NZ businesses the same as out-of-state Australian businesses. So if you want to follow the money, there is $650 million to be spent in infrastructure, $2.3 billion in road and rail, with the total stimulus package reaching $42 billion. One organisation which is harnessing the opportunities of this partnership is the Industry Capability Network (ICN). This website allows project managers to source competitive suppliers and service providers for major projects, and visa versa. You can read more using the links below:
www.icn.govt.nz
The Risk of Not Investing in a Recession
This article explores the trade-off between the financial risks of investment versus the competitive risk of losing market share. JOKE: Software Engineer, Mechanical Engineer & ManagerA software engineer, mechanical engineer and departmental manager were on their way to a meeting in Switzerland. They were driving down a steep mountain road when suddenly the brakes failed. The car careened out of control, bouncing off guard rails until it miraculously ground to a scraping halt along the mountainside. The occupants of the car were unhurt, but they had a problem. They were stuck halfway down the mountain in a car with no brakes. "I know" said the manager. "Let's have a meeting, propose a Vision, formulate a Mission Statement, define some Goals, and through a process of Continuous Improvement, find a solution to the Critical Problems and we'll be on our way." "No," said the mechanical engineer. "I've got my Swiss army knife with me. I can strip down the car's braking system, isolate the fault, fix it, and we'll be on our way." "Wait," said the software engineer. "Before we do anything, shouldn't we push the car back to the top of the mountain and see if it happens again?" Outsmart your colleagues...
You are trapped in a room with two doors. One leads to certain death and the other leads to freedom. There are two robots guarding the doors. They will let you choose one door but upon doing so you must go through it. You can, however, ask one robot one question. The problem is one robot always tells the truth, the other always lies and you don't know which is which. What is the question you ask to ensure your freedom? Send your correct answer to competition@motovated.co.nz to be in with a chance of winning a $50 Mitre 10 voucher. Answer to last issue's puzzle
Check your answer to August issue's question here: Can you arrange 24 coins in six rows with five coins in each row? There were a number of solutions to this problem, the most common answer given is shown opposite. Another common answer was creating 2 triangles. The question was slightly ambiguous, not stating that the coins had to form a single closed shape, so both answers were considered correct. Last issue's puzzle winner...Congratulations to Garry Love of Eagle Engineering, a Mitre 10 voucher is on its way to you. Thanks for your time and support. We look forward to working with you and continuing to provide the best engineering services possible. Greg and the team at Motovated. "engineering your vision" |
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The end of the year is fast approaching, and we are in the process of organising our 2010 calendars. These will be mailed out around the
end of December, so keep an eye out for them in the post.
This issue's brain teaser is a game of double jeopardy:
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