• IHI Corporation

Recent progress in efficiency of car engines requires most advanced charging systems providing best response time, highest pressure ratio and best efficiency while the available exhaust gas energy to propel the turbocharger is simultaneously reduced. Thus, IHI Turbo is developing products that apply electric motor technology to turbochargers allowing overcoming this conflict.

• IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd.

IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd. developed a cosmic ray observation apparatus (CALET) with the world highest level of observation capability to be mounted on the International Space Station’s Japanese Experiment Module “KIBO”— Exposed Facility.

• MEISEI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.

The asteroid spacecraft “Hayabusa” returned to the Earth after overcoming many unexpected difficulties. We still recall the day when it returned to the Earth safely. Meanwhile, on just December 3, 2014, “Hayabusa2” was successfully launched on the H-IIA rocket. “Hayabusa2” includes three pieces of equipment which we developed, and DCAM3 we introduce here is one of them.

• IHI Corporation

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is attracting attention today as a new technique for manufacturing aluminum LNG tanks. As this technique uses frictional heat to soften and join members, without the welding filler materials or shielding gas essential for conventional arc welding, it generates little welding distortion. This joining technique overturns the conventional concept of welding.

• IHI Corporation

IHI, which is proud to hold the world-class record for most deliveries of nuclear reactor pressure vessels, has been taking on the new challenge of manufacturing a Steam Generator (SG) that is one of the main pieces of equipment in a pressurized-water reactor nuclear power plant. This article introduces our efforts to achieve this SG manufacturing for which the highest degree of reliability is required.

• IHI Machinery and Furnace Co., Ltd.

Vacuum carburizing is a process in which a material surface is hardened by quenching after carbon has been diffused over a work surface under high temperature and low pressure. The coolant (oil) flow distribution was optimized in this quenching process. This enables variations in the distortion and hardness of the treated material to be reduced and contributes to improving productivity.

• ONOZUKA Masakazu

• FUJII Masakazu, MURAKAMI Hiroki, SONEHARA Mitsuharu

Power assist devices and automated facilities are applied to the transportation and assembly of heavy or large parts in production lines to improve efficiency, keep workers safe and reduce the number of workers. However, power assist devices cannot reduce the number of workers. Moreover, automated facilities have to be equipped with advanced sensing devices and controls for positioning purposes and judging when a task is complete, and then such facilities may hamper utilization or make the return on investment too small. In this paper, to resolve such problems, we studied the application of a human-industrial robot cooperative system to a production line. Safety, operability and the assistance of human skills were studied as they relate to hand-guiding, in which a human operates an industrial robot directly and they work collaboratively.

• HASHIMOTO Hideyuki

In diesel combustion, there is generally a trade-off between fuel consumption and NOx emissions. With electronically controlled engines (cam-less engines) that employ a common rail fuel injection system, there is flexible control of fuel injection and exhaust valve timing in accordance with engine load. By optimizing the setting of parameters based on the result of various simulations and engine testing, low-NOx, highly efficient combustion has been achieved, which makes a major contribution to reducing environmental load.

• TASAKI Mitsuhiko, HAMADA Hiroaki, AE Kazuaki, DOI Akira, HANADA Toshiya,KITAZAWA Yukihito

Currently, the danger due to debris in earth orbit is increasing. Furthermore, methods for the removal of such orbital debris have become the subject of attention. This paper proposes a concept for passive Orbital Debris Removal (ODR). In the passive ODR described in this research, a large area of polyimide foil is opened. Low earth orbit micro-debris decelerate due to their passing through the opened foil, and eventually reenter the atmosphere. In order to achieve efficient debris removal, as part of this research an unfolding mechanism has been invented that can open a large area of polyimide foil in low earth orbit. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this orbital debris removal concept, an event equivalent to the breaking up of a satellite by Chinese anti-satellite testing has been assumed. In order to give consideration to the perturbation of the orbital debris removal spacecraft, removal effectiveness was compared with regard to the direction of orbit injection, the effective cross sectional area, and orbit injection time as parameters.

• FUKUOKA Mari, AKAMINE Kenichi, IAI Yuuichi, TAKATOO Norihiro, FUKUSHIMA Noriaki

In the maintenance and management of gate facilities, a large sum of money and labor are required to remove and clean organisms that attach themselves to the facilities. That is why we developed two anti-biofouling systems, one that uses a weak electric current and another that uses ultrasonic waves. We carried out basic examinations and actual environment examinations to verify the effects of these methods. As a result, it has been confirmed that these methods effectively anti-foul the parts they are applied to, and that they can be used on gate facilities. In the future, we will evaluate their adaptability to aqueducts, such as those used in thermal and nuclear power plants, and marine structures, such as floating breakwaters, in addition to gate facilities.