Submarine Technology Helps Detect The Shake, Rattle And Roll
Techniques developed to make submarines harder for an enemy to detect are being used in the civilian world to identify mechanical problems before they result in costly failures.
Engineers can predict future problems by studying how things vibrate.
Today’s far-reaching work has roots in the 1960s, in Navy efforts to make submarines quieter - and harder for an enemy to detect.
Recent advances in computer speed and capacity allow vibration analysts to pinpoint which part of a piece of equipment is wearing out, and why.
Vibration analysts, for example, can fine-tune machinery to make it last longer. And their ability to predict failure allows squeezing more life out of parts.
Knight Ridder
* A hard sell: The telecommunications industry faces an uphill battle in convincing consumers that they need wireless data services.
While companies now have the capability to provide traffic alerts on the way home, coupons for the pizzeria up ahead or the five-day forecast for anywhere, consumers so far have been cool to the idea.
Still, backers remain optimistic, noting that the public had to be sold on both automobiles and telephones before they embraced those innovations.
Dallas Morning News
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