The two previous issues of The IUP Journal of Mechanical Engineering dwelled upon ‘Publishing Ethics’ and ‘Scientific Ethics’. The former is the delegated responsibility of the editorial process and the latter is the concern of the regularity bodies. These two can get additional support from several organizations, for example, the Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE), (http://www. publication ethics.org.uk/about), is the best known. COPE provides a forum for publishers and editors of scientific journals to discuss the issues relating to integrity of the work submitted to or published in their journals, both print and online. It encourages its members to seek investigations into suggested misconduct by the employing universities, hospitals or others of prima facie cases.

Many digital solutions are available in today’s new era of information to assist in the different stages of scientific publication process. Established journals are active in plagiarism and other ethics initiatives, internally and externally, and provide resource kits for the stakeholders. These kits are available at the publishers’ websites. Elsevier’s pilot plagiarism software project called Crosscheck (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/editorsinfo.editors/plagdetect), in collaboration with The CrossRef Association (http://www.crossref.org), is worth examining by the individuals who are concerned about ‘Ethics and Plagiarism’.

The paper “A Comparative Study on Optimizing CNC Milling Operation Using Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithm”, by R Saravanan and V Janakiraman, has considered the problem of minimizing the total production cost subject to machine constraints such as cutting power, cutting force, tool life, and surface finish of a component from automobile industry and the range of operating parameters given by suppliers. For a comparative study, the authors have developed optimization procedures using Simulated Annealing (SA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) to find the optimum point in the given range in order to reduce the cost of production. By implementing the procedures developed in this work, an average of 24.48% reduction in the cost of manufacturing has been achieved. The method presented can be easily modified to suit other machining operations such as turning, cylindrical grinding, surface grinding and nontraditional machining processes.

Predictive Maintenance (PDM) program is an important philosophy that can be applied to effectively manage plant maintenance. Under PDM program, ‘signature analysis’ technique is widely used to study the vibration behavior of machines. Cooling towers in process industries are mainly engaged for evaporation of water and to exhaust heat from the processes. In the paper, “Application of Predictive Maintenance Program in Cooling Tower Fans: A Case Study”, by Rupinder Singh, the PDM program has been applied to the cooling tower fans of a process plant to reduce the severity of vibrations. The results showed a phenomenal 63% reduction in the vibration of fans of the process plant, thereby improving fan reliability.

The Finite Element Method (FEM) is increasingly becoming an integral tool for CAD due to the ongoing revolution in computer field and is used for the analysis of torque by a number of researchers. The accuracy of the FEM is dependent on mesh orientation. The effect of triangular mesh orientation on accuracy with regard to torsion has been studied in the paper, “Effect of Finite Element Mesh Orientation on the Solution Accuracy of Torsion Problems”, by Yatheshth Anand, Sarbjeet Singh and Sunand Kumar. In mechanical systems there are numerous applications where components are subjected to torque, causing failure of a component due to shear stress if the component is not properly designed. Therefore, it is essential to accurately estimate torque so that the component is designed correctly. The results obtained demonstrate that the triangular mesh parallel to the edge of the square cross-section shows more accurate and smooth results, as compared to the results obtained when the triangular mesh is perpendicular to the edge of the square cross-section.

In fusion welding, a weldment is locally heated by the welding heat sources. The nonuniform temperature distribution during the thermal cycle leads to incompatible strain, causing thermal stresses. Thermal stresses in the weld may lead to the formation of hot cracks. Therefore, it becomes necessary to develop a model for the welding process which would produce not only qualitative but also quantitative information on thermal stresses. S P Tewari, B Agrawal and N K Samria in their paper “Estimation of Thermal Stresses by Finite Element Analysis in a Weld Zone During Atmospheric Cooling”, carried out a finite element simulation of the welding process to give welding induced thermal stresses in a rectangular weld pool.

In their paper, “Studies on Deformation and Failure Behavior of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy for Aircraft Structures”, P S Ranjit and A Chennakesava Reddy have investigated the dynamic response of Ti-6Al-4V alloy at high strain rates with tensile split Hopkinson bar test, using plate type of specimens. High strain rate tensile tests are useful to construct appropriate constitutive models of materials for use in aircraft structures under dynamic conditions.

- - R K Mittal
Consulting Editor