Conflict management system design (resolution system design) Research Paper

Conflict management system design (resolution system design) - Research Paper Example Following this, many agencies have developed approaches and models of effective complaint handling system. The stage approach provides a conflict resolution system in stages. It brings together what the customer wants and what the organisation or agency needs. That is, the interests of the organisation and the rights of the customers. However, it gives first preference to the organisation’s interests and focuses on the fulfilment of its objectives in a smooth manner. The first stage in the approach is, frontline complaint handling where the staff resolves the complaint where possible, at first contact with the customer. The members of staff then log the complaint details for later analysis. The second stage is the internal review or investigation. This is where a more senior staff or designated complaint officer reviews the complaints and resolves them informally. He then investigates the unresolved complaints with the interest of the organisation at heart. The last stage is the independent review where the unresolved complaints are referred externally. Alternate dispute resolutions are tried, for example, mediation. Complaints may also be referred to external agency or the complainant is informed of a legal procedure or another legal remedy (NSW Ombudsman, 2010). All this is done in favour of the organization’s interests. This model provides the guidelines for developing and implementing the consumer complaints management initiatives, emphasizing the interest of the organisation but still taking into account the rights of the customers. It involves eight steps that help in managing and resolving the complaints for the better performance and realisation of the agency’s objectives. The first step involves defining the problem and gathering information. Finding common ground on the problems being addressed is essential to moving ahead with solutions. All the people and organisations involved are

Voting Behaviour in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Voting Behaviour in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Furthermore, some of these factors play more important role than the other ones, and different voting campaigns show different tendencies. This paper will argue that such factors as age, gender, income, ethnicity and some others can influence voting behaviour in the United Kingdom, and that it is very important for sociologists, politicians and PR specialists to take into account the combination of these factors. 2. The most significant factors of voting behaviour in the United Kingdom are social class, geography, age and background, public opinion and media. Social class of voters is concerned as the most important factor: "When voting analysis began in 1945 it became clear that social class was the most important factor in the way people traditionally voted. People tended to vote according to their natural class" (Voting Behaviour). It is evident that upper and middle classes tend to vote Conservative, while upper and lower working class votes for Labour, but actually this tendency has changed - it is connected to the media activity and the politics of Conservative party which tries to attract the population of lower income, while the Labour party politics moves to the right.1 This tendency can also be explained by the changing of the population structure in the last half of the 20th century: "Since the 1970s, the number of manual workers has fallen from nearly 50% of the population to jus t 33%. This is because of the changes in employment patterns, educational opportunities and the rising standard of living" (Voting Behaviour). But in spite of that the factor of social class is still rather strong in British voting behavior. In addition to that, the household also plays very important role in voting pattern in the United Kingdom. People who live together traditionally vote for the same party, and this factor should also be taken into account: "Since we expect members of households to vote together, this means that the number of households in which all members vote for the same party should be greater than expected, whereas the number in which different members vote for different parties (or abstain) should be less than expected" (Johnston et al., 2003). Geographical location of voters also affects voting behaviour in the United Kingdom. The north of the UK, as well as Wales, tends to vote for Labour, while the southern part of the country usually votes for Conservative: "In 2001, the southern part of England voted 56.3% for the Conservative Party whilst the north of England, Scotland and Wales voted 82.4% in favour of the Labour Party" (Voting Behaviour). This tendency is connected to the historical and industrial development of different regions in Great Britain: the north and Wales are industrial regions where trade unions activity is traditionally high, and the population mostly votes for Labour. The factor of age also plays role in political preferences in Great Britain. Often people under 35 vote for Labour while older people vote for Conservative. This tendency can be explained by the Labour party politics directing younger population: "Those under 35 tend to vote Labour and the Conservative

Personal statement on intended major Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On intended major - Personal Statement Example Our employees were falling ill and receiving pay cuts for their absent days. I listened to their problems, took notes on everything I felt my family needed to sort out in order to insure that we did not take a hit in our quarterly earnings. Prior to presenting the problems to my father, I decided to work on possible solutions to the problem on hand so that he would have immediate solutions to the problem. I will never forget that first day that I met with him, my organizer and laptop in hand, ready to show him what I discovered and how we could fix the problems that were affecting our company. I pointed out to him how our shifts at the factory needed to be increased so that we would have more products coming out of the line while giving out employees enough time to rest during the day. The shifting schedule would also benefit our part time workers who could fill in for anybody who was not on the working line that day. We had a discussion about the welfare of the employees and how we needed to get some sort of medical coverage for them in order to make sure that they could take care of their health. If we could not increase their salaries, we needed to find another way to keep the employees content. It would be best to make up the difference in another way. It was a highly animated discussion between two equals who both had the economics of life at the forefront of their minds. At the end of the meeting, my father had this smile on his face that went from ear to ear. I will never forget what he told me, â€Å"Son, I never knew that you were a born economist. Your deductive reasoning skills are above par. Keep up the good work.† It was those inspiring words of my father that drove me to learn more about economics and how I can use it to benefit myself as a capitalist while also sharing the financial blessings with those who work for me. If that makes me a born economist, then I guess I am and I am proud to be one. Personal Statement 2 I realize that being a student these days is practically a 24 hour occupation. In order to stay ahead of my classmates and remain in competition for the best grades in my school, I devote most of my free time to my studies. However, I also realize that a bookworm may become very good in theory but fail in the social aspects of his life. Which is why I try my best to balance these two aspects of my life. I am not all about academics. Neither am I all about fun either. However, I do not participate in just any kind of social activity. I have always been encouraged by my parents to be civic minded and try to do my best to give back to my community. That is why I chose to become a volunteer at a local senior care home. Whenever I want to take a break from the academic grind, I take a trip down to Tzu Chi, a local charity group that volunteers its services at a local nursing home. We come down twice a week in order to help entertain and educate the seniors who are only too happy to have us intrude into their hum drum lives. One of the activities that they enjoy doing the most is learning languages. I, being Chinese ended up teaching them the basics of conversational Chinese. China is emerging as a new economic giant in the world, our language is also fast gaining its place in the business world. Which is why most people enroll in Chinese language schools in order to learn the language. I

Research on the effects of water pollution Paper

On the effects of water pollution - Research Paper Example by Calhoun and Seideman (2005, p 23), they described environmental pollution as â€Å"the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment, which normally results to an adverse negative change on the natural environment.† In these two studies, it was collectively noted that pollutants comprise of chemical substances, wastewater, garbage, and various forms of energy such as noise, light, and heat. Goel (2006) in his writings stated that certain pollutants normally cause an harmful effect if they are used in excess, for example, a small discharge of noise, light, or heat into the environment is not likely to cause an harmful effect or rather it is not likely to pollute the environment. This research study will focus on water pollution and in particular, it seeks to investigate the effects of water pollution from a broader perspective that comprises of the eco-system and even the living organisms. Because of the essential use of water in everyday life by all living organisms, Villers (2001) argued that water pollution tends to have the most detrimental effects amongst all other forms of pollution. Water pollution occurs when toxic substances either in liquid or solid form are discharged into water bodies and there is no effective treatment plan that has been put in place to remove the toxic substances. Because of it wide use by all living organisms, water pollution tend to have the most detrimental effect on the entire population, individual species and the natural biological community. This fact is supported by the argument that was given by Calhoun and Seideman (2005), who deemed water pollution as a major global problem that is the root cause of many diseases and deaths that in the society. In particular, a report released by the United Nations in the year 2011 under the title ‘Water Factsheet’ noted that water pollution accounts for over fourteen thousand deaths that occur on a daily basis across the World. This report further noted that water

Personal statement on intended major Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On intended major - Personal Statement Example Our employees were falling ill and receiving pay cuts for their absent days. I listened to their problems, took notes on everything I felt my family needed to sort out in order to insure that we did not take a hit in our quarterly earnings. Prior to presenting the problems to my father, I decided to work on possible solutions to the problem on hand so that he would have immediate solutions to the problem. I will never forget that first day that I met with him, my organizer and laptop in hand, ready to show him what I discovered and how we could fix the problems that were affecting our company. I pointed out to him how our shifts at the factory needed to be increased so that we would have more products coming out of the line while giving out employees enough time to rest during the day. The shifting schedule would also benefit our part time workers who could fill in for anybody who was not on the working line that day. We had a discussion about the welfare of the employees and how we needed to get some sort of medical coverage for them in order to make sure that they could take care of their health. If we could not increase their salaries, we needed to find another way to keep the employees content. It would be best to make up the difference in another way. It was a highly animated discussion between two equals who both had the economics of life at the forefront of their minds. At the end of the meeting, my father had this smile on his face that went from ear to ear. I will never forget what he told me, â€Å"Son, I never knew that you were a born economist. Your deductive reasoning skills are above par. Keep up the good work.† It was those inspiring words of my father that drove me to learn more about economics and how I can use it to benefit myself as a capitalist while also sharing the financial blessings with those who work for me. If that makes me a born economist, then I guess I am and I am proud to be one. Personal Statement 2 I realize that being a student these days is practically a 24 hour occupation. In order to stay ahead of my classmates and remain in competition for the best grades in my school, I devote most of my free time to my studies. However, I also realize that a bookworm may become very good in theory but fail in the social aspects of his life. Which is why I try my best to balance these two aspects of my life. I am not all about academics. Neither am I all about fun either. However, I do not participate in just any kind of social activity. I have always been encouraged by my parents to be civic minded and try to do my best to give back to my community. That is why I chose to become a volunteer at a local senior care home. Whenever I want to take a break from the academic grind, I take a trip down to Tzu Chi, a local charity group that volunteers its services at a local nursing home. We come down twice a week in order to help entertain and educate the seniors who are only too happy to have us intrude into their hum drum lives. One of the activities that they enjoy doing the most is learning languages. I, being Chinese ended up teaching them the basics of conversational Chinese. China is emerging as a new economic giant in the world, our language is also fast gaining its place in the business world. Which is why most people enroll in Chinese language schools in order to learn the language. I

Enlish Methods Of Writing For Junior Cert Essay Example for Free

Enlish Methods Of Writing For Junior Cert Essay Junior Cert English Functional Writing Introduction and Overview The Functional Writing section of Paper I asks the student, in as close as possible, to write in the style of somebody who either uses language for a living, or is conducting business or important matters through writing or speech. This part of Paper I strays away from fiction, but is not entirely devoid of opportunities to use language in a creative or dramatic fashion. In some cases the student may have to use their imagination to provide detail to make their work seem realistic and give it the authentic feel. The marks in Functional Writing are given for the knowledge of the style and tone required for the task, and for the understanding of the format required. Awareness of Audience and Task In all cases in this section, your choice of language, and your use of tone and register will be dictated to you by  · The intended recipient and/or audience.  · Your means of delivery. In short, you can either use a formal or informal style of address. You should take into account the age, status, and size of the audience you are dealing with. Your language should always be trying to create the appropriate impression of both who you are and what youre trying to do. For example, you would use a formal style of address if you were writing a letter to your bank manager asking for a loan to start your own business. Your language would be confident, but not aggressive: informative, but not laboriously so: enthusiastic but not overzealous. The impression created on the bank manager is that you are reliable, competent and trustworthy, and your business will be a huge success. For your own entertainment you might want to write the worst possible letter of application for the same loan- you would be over-familiar, disrespectful, vague, repetitive, and riddled with inaccuracies about yourself and what you want to do. You can then guess what response this would get from the same bank manager going through their morning mail. This then is the key to Functional writing; awareness of the tone you are to take, and the choice of language to use to reinforce that tone. An example of a task that you would be asked to complete with an informal style is to imagine that you have been asked by a club that you are involved with to make a presentation to a class of twelve year old primary school children to encourage them to join. You would be presenting this verbally, so when you would prepare your material beforehand, you would stress key information on several occasions, to avoid having the same basic question repeated infinitely. As your audience would be unlikely to have firsthand experience of what you are taking about, you would use the simplest language possible, and use short, sequential, informative language. You would also use an informal tone, as you would want your audience to think your group would be welcoming and fun, not preoccupied with taking everything too seriously. Here is an example of a completely made-up extract from my very busy diary. Consider the language and tone I would use for each of the following tasks in just one day: 10:00 Book holiday tickets over phone from travel agency. 11:00 Complete and edit report for Boss on efficiency of new sys. 12:00 Address fundraising lunch for Kidney Dialysis unit for Childrens Hospital. 2:00 Write congratulations card for birth of secretarys daughters first child. 3:00 Deliver presentation to investors on Company performance. 4:00 Talk to business journalist about new product range. 6:00 Attend parent-teacher meeting at sons new school. 8:00 Coach under 12 team introduce new training drills. 10:00 Convince very unsympathetic wife that Ive had a long day. At both 12:00 and 3:00 I will be addressing a group of businesspeople. However, there are differences. People will not want to be overly serious at lunch, so I will be able to use a respectful but informal tone. I may even be able to use language that will influence my audience emotionally. However, at 3:00 I will have to be very formal and very structured in my use of language and terminology for the business meeting. Look at the way my 11:00 task is written. Will I get away with that use of shorthand and slang in the report itself? Of course not; what is acceptable as a note for your own use is not acceptable for a report for someone elses reading. Will it be easier to present information to my 3:00 or 8:00 appointment? In the afternoon everybody will be fresh. Will they be as sharp in the evening? Should my card for my secretarys daughter be written with the same tone and language as my report for my employer? All of these questions are central to the idea of functional writing. Make sure what you are doing is appropriate to your task and your audience. Reports. A report can be written for a newspaper, radio programme, or television broadcast. No matter whether its to be read or spoken, start with the most important details first. You should deal with the following sequence of facts; 1) what has happened; 2) how it happened; 3) why it happened. The first section, what, will also include where, who and when. A report doesnt only have to include the facts, it can also include opinions, in the form of quotations from the relevant experts and authorities, and also some degree of speculation as to what will happen next, and what consequences there will be. Unlike a review, the writer is there to convey the truth and facts of the matter. They are to be unbiased, non-judgemental, and let the facts speak for themselves. A good reporter will trust their audience to make up its mind in the right way once it has all the facts. The Tabloid Unlike the Broadsheet, the Tabloid newspaper makes no bones about  choosing sides in a story, and actively tries to persuade its readers to share its opinion. They very much like to take a light hearted approach to news material if at all possible, and frequently use puns in headlines. They also avoid putting in too many views or opinions on any given subject. They like first-hand accounts from people involved in making the news, and will avoid analysis, as they prefer to be very direct in their focus on the story. The tabloid journalist likes to gain an emotional response from their reader, and will not shy away from showing where their sympathies lie in any given story. They will sometimes choose to present deliberately one-sided reports on what may sometimes be very complicated issues. They like stories that involve celebrities or famous people, and avoid serious treatment of political or economic issues as much as possible. They thrive on scandal, and what they believe is the publics insatiable appetite to see what goes on behind closed doors. Tabloids pride themselves on their extremely in-depth sports coverage. The average reading age (age at which a reader would be expected to understand all contents without difficulty) for a Tabloid newspaper is just nine years. Tabloids like simple and short sentences. They use puns and wordplay to highlight and make memorable the key thrust of their story. They avoid using complicated terminology, and long sentences. They also highlight key-points by having several sub-captions to stories, and by using several illustrations to put across the message visually as well. Tabloids have always been traditionally strong on visual information and colour pictures. In recent years tabloids have abandoned over-reliance on the page-three girl feature as they are trying to encourage more women readers. The Broadsheet A broadsheet newspaper is characterised, not only by its large size, but by the attitude it takes towards journalism, and the presentation of news stories. Primarily, a broadsheet will focus on political, economic and lifestyle features. It will present its main stories in a very in-depth and detailed format. They will take a very serious tone with the reader, and will avoid anything that might seem to be trivialising an issue, for example, a pun in a headline. They prefer a serious, sombre, and often  complex approach to news-stories. Broadsheet newspapers examine not only what happened, but how it happened, why it happened, if it happens frequently, what can be done about it, and they will also mention when similar events occurred. They like to find many individuals related to the event, and experts to give quotations and opinions on what has happened. The broadsheet journalist likes to appear impartial and unbiased, and avoids any sense that their emotions might be affecting what they write in any way. They like to convey the impression that they give you the whole truth. Some broadsheet newspapers are physically huge. The average reading age (level of difficulty) for reading a broadsheet and understanding everything in it would be fourteen years, which means you would be able to follow everything. Broadsheets are only now beginning to embrace the possibilities for the use of colour in their papers. Traditionally they have been very black and white affairs, but are increasing the amount of photographs they publish. Reviews. The art of the reviewer is to give the reader just enough a suggestion of what it is youre talking about, just enough to whet their appetite. If you check a Sunday newspaper, you can find reviews of motorcars, concerts, films, restaurants, even hotels! Nothing is too small, or too large to avoid being reviewed. You could be required to write a review of a favourite film of yours, or to write a blurb for the back of a novel. Unlike a report, which is essentially factual, a review gives you far more scope to let your opinions and feelings known. You can say what you liked or disliked about what youre reviewing, and that is almost important as a factual description of what youre reviewing. You can create either a very positive or negative impression on your reader by the tone and language you use. You should assume that your reader has a general interest in the area, but may not be familiar with exactly what youre going to tell them about. It is easy to criticise something, and often after saying how bad something is, you will find yourself repeating your verdict without informing the reader of why, how or what was bad about it. If you are still looking to fill space, try constructive criticism. Any reviewer can pronounce whether something is good or bad; only the inspired reviewer can point out what was done well, and conversely, what opportunities were lost. For example, if you are reviewing the sitcom Friends, then you should fill in the background first for the reader. It is advisable to go into some detail about the characters, and then finally to attempt some analysis of why it is you like or dislike it. Interviews. Q: Whats the difference between an interview and writing dialogue? A: Interviews are essentially pieces of dialogue, but without the qualifying he saids / she saids at the end of each piece of speech. The different parts of the conversation can be put as question and answer exchanges (Q: and A:), or if it is a more informal interview which is very similar to a conversation, then you can call yourself Interviewer, but refer to your subject by their Surname. Keep your questions short, and let your interviewee expand on them. Q: What are the things I should try to do, and what are the most common problems? A: A bad question to ask is anything that would encourage your interviewee to give a monosyllabic answer, of the yes/no variety. A good question is one which gives the interviewee a chance to illustrate with examples from their life, work, or to ponder on events important to their work, lives, and past or future. A good interviewer gets to the point quickly, and their questions will never be longer than the answers they receive. I once interviewed Seamus Heaney while in college, and committed all of the above mistakes. The Sample Answer below I have had to invent to cover my embarrassment! As well as bearing in mind your interviewee, bear in mind the audience who will be reading this interview. You want something  that is informative, but not technical, and which allows the person or subject to come across well to the reader. There was a fashion recently in newspapers for interviews in which you discovered more about the interviewer than the interviewee, but thankfully, this has now passed. Q: So, I basically just make the entire thing up then? But how do I structure it? A: If you are stuck as to where to start, pick an example of an interviewee who would be appropriate, and write out the list of questions you would like to ask them. Then all you need to do is invent their answers, going by what you know of them. If youre still stuck, then ask what theyre doing now, what they were doing previously, and what they hope to be doing in six months time. You can also ask if they have achieved all they want to do, or if they think other peoples impressions of them are important. Bear in mind though that your questions will ultimately depend on who the intended audience for the interview is. If they are your age, then ask questions you think your friends would like to know the answers to. Within reason, of course. Speech Writing The skill of speech writing could be relevant to Personal Writing or Functional Writing. How to write, deliver and appreciate a good speech. The key to writing and delivering a good speech is to remember at all times that the speaker is dealing with an audience. The writer/speaker must also bear in mind at what occasion the speech is to be delivered. A speech to be given at an EGM of a company faced with bankruptcy will be drastically different in its structure, tone, and technique than a speech to be given by the same speaker at a wedding later that week! How to write a speech. (For this section, we will consider a speech as that which a speaker would be called upon to prepare for a debate, or public speaking competition.) First, read your motion carefully. In the Junior Certificate, you will be invited to speak either for or against the topic. In deciding whether to speak for or against the motion, dont necessarily choose the side of the motion which  you support; choose instead the side of the argument that will give you the most arguments to use in your speech. A good idea is to brainstorm all the possible arguments both for and against, and when you see which side gives you more avenues of thought to pursue, choose it. Second, having chosen your side of the debate, decide that the motion is a good or bad idea because ¦This then will become the argument of your speech. The argument is the central theme which you will introduce, build upon and then summarise. Often it is best to have to have three reasons; Example For Capital Punishment is a good idea because ¦ 1. It deters other criminals from committing serious crimes 2. It is cheap, efficient, and labour saving 3. It eliminates the possibility of repeat offences Against Capital Punishment is a bad idea because ¦ 1. Miscarriages of justice cannot be rectified 2. It makes killing right for some yet wrong for others, thus introducing a double standard when there should be a simple statement that murder is a crime 3. Prisons should be for rehabilitating offenders, not for revenge All of the above statements should then be supported by example, but remember, in a debate, your argument is more important than your examples. A good speaker is always restating their argument; a bad speaker is always lost in a fog of example. This is how your argument becomes informative and clear. Third, decide on the structure and tone you want to use in your speech. Some speakers may like to start their speech with a story, anecdote or quotation that will then illustrate their arguments to follow. This gives the speaker a chance to make the speech unique, and make it more relevant than a theoretical discussion of some issue that has never had, or will never have any affect on the speaker. What tone are you going to use? Avoid making sweeping statements, such as we all know what this is going to lead to. Instead, pitch such ideas to the audience in the form of rhetorical questions: Do we want our society to be like this? Avoid the use of too much jargon, and if you are forced to, make sure to define the term immediately after you first mention it, so the audience will be informed for when they will next hear the term. Do not believe that your audience are already experts on this issue you may need to fill them in on the basics  first. Do not do this in a patronising way, but instead say that you want to focus their attention on the key issues. In this way you will be more persuasive, and less arrogant. Too much arrogance and you will end up alienating your audience from your point of view. Opening comments. Depending on the occasion that the speech is to be delivered, start with the most important dignitaries present, and proceed through your list to the end, which is usually your fellow speakers. A standard opening for a school debate would be Chairperson, Principal, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Students, Fellow Speakers, I have come before you today to speak on the motion that ¦(insert motion here) ¦ Continue to refer directly to the audience at intervals throughout your speech, and conclude with a summary of all your arguments, and by thanking the audience for their time and attention. Ladies and Gentlemen, having put forward the facts, I beg you to support/oppose this motion, that ¦(insert motion here) ¦ How do you know if you have written a good speech? Imagine you are listening to that speech from the audience. To a member of an audience, no matter where, a good speech will always have the following qualities. 1. It will be suited to the tone of the occasion, whether solemn, or celebratory. 2. It will be informative, but not so technical that it either confuses or loses you. 3. You will be clear at the end of the speech as to why the speaker feels in the way they do about the topic they have spoken on. 4. The speech will emphasise why the issue is important to everyday life, rather that some abstract worry that may never affect you. 5. You will have been given a definition of the issue, and more importantly, a series of suggestions or steps as to how this issue should be dealt with. 6. You will have developed a sympathy for both the speaker and the issue that they spoke upon.

Finite Element Analysis Of A Load Cell Engineering Essay

Finite Element Analysis Of A Load Cell Engineering Essay In recent years, the various mechanical weighing machines have been replaced by electromechanical industrial and commercial table-top versions. In modern types of weighing machines, an electrical signal that is directly proportional to the weight is provided for further processing by a microprocessor. The conversion from the mechanical quantity of mass or weight into an electrical signal is carried out by the piece of art termed the load cell (Karaus and Paul, 1992). The load cell is a force sensor that is used in weighing equipment. Most conventional load cells, for loads of 1000 kg or more, contain a spring element made from steel, which deforms under the load that is measured by sensor element, as shown in Figure 1.1. Usually, the sensor element consists of number of resistive strain gauges that are glued to the spring element. However, the accuracy of load cells is limited by the hysteresis and creep and to minimise these effects, expensive high-grade steels are required (Wiegeri nk et al., 2000) Figure 1.1 Load cell concept of operation Load cells are used in several industrial weighing applications. As the signal processing and control systems cannot operate correctly if they receive inaccurate input data, compensation of the imperfections of sensor response is one of the most important problems in sensor research. Influence of unwanted signals, non-ideal frequency response, parameter drift, nonlinearity, and cross sensitivity are the major defects in the primary sensors (Karaus and Paul, 1992; Piskorowski and Barcinski, 2008). Load cells have an oscillatory response which always needs time to settle down. Dynamic measurement refers to the ascertainment of the final value of a sensor signal while its output is still in oscillation. It is, therefore, necessary to determine the value of the measure and in the fastest time possible to speed up the process of measurement, which is of particular importance in some applications. One example of processing to the sensor output signal is filtering to achieve response correc tion (Piskorowski and Barcinski, 2008). In this study, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is conducted on a typical load cell. The stress and displacement of the load cell were modeled using the FE package. Moreover, manual calculations were performed and the results are compared with the model predictions. 2. Idealisation The geometry of the load cell is relatively complex. It is therefore, was simplified to ease the construction and utilisation of the modelling techniques. The first phase in idealisation is to implement symmetry in modeling. Also, the upper and lower surfaces of the load cell are assumed horizontal and totally flat to ease modelling process. For the boundary conditions, the load cell is contacting fixed surface through its bottom surface i.e. the seating face. Therefore, the boundary conditions at this contact face are: no allowed any translation motion in x-direction and also in y-direction. Details of idealisation will be discussed in the latter sections. 2.1 Approximate stress calculation As it is known, the Hook s law can be expressed as: (2.1) Thus, the normal stress under tension or compression is directly proportional to the relative elongation or shortening of the bar. The proportionally factor , which links the normal stress with the relative elongation, is called the modulus of elasticity of the material under tension (compression). The greater the modulus of elasticity of a material, the less the bar is stretched or compressed provided all other conditions remain unchanged. It should be borne in mind that Hook s law has been represented by a formula which sums up the experimental data only approximately; it cannot therefore be considered an accurate relation (Quek and Liu, 2003). In order to manually evaluate the stress values, the positions of the neutral axis were firstly evaluated. For any rectangular cross sections, it is found that the neutral axis is to pass at the sections mid point. Therefore, it is considered that the mid section of the tested load cell takes the form of cantilever beam, which is subjected to normal force and accordingly a bending moment as shown in Figure 2.1. It was also considered as an assumption that the left hand side of the mid section of the load cell is restrained in all the degrees of freedom. It was also assumed that the normal force and the bending moment are acting on the right hand side of the simulated load cell s section. Figure 2.1 representation of the section as cantilever beam As the load is acted the result will be the bending moment which can be evaluated using the following expression. (2.2) The action of the bending moment is the expected deformation that will take place. For the clockwise affecting moments, the cross-sections located above the neutral axis will be subjected to tensile stresses whereas the cross-sections at the other side will experience compressive stresses. The area of the cross section can be evaluated from: (2.3) Given that b and h are the width and the height of the beam, the second inertial moment for the cell s cross section (i.e. rectangular shape) can be evaluated from: (2.4) The stress values at the area where the strain gauge is mounted are evaluated for the sections above the neutral axis (+ sign) and below the neutral axis (? sign) as follows: (2.5) Therefore, the stresses for the section above the neutral axis are evaluated at: N/m2 2.2 Approximate displacement calculation By using equation (2.1, the strain can be evaluated as: Given that the Poisson s ratio is expressed as the ratio of the transverse to axial elongations, therefore: (2.6) Therefore: Same procedures can also be applied to evaluate the elongation in the z-direction, as similar value of the strain will be obtained in this direction. 3. Finite Element Model 3.1 Model justification The geometry of the load cell is illustrated in Figure 3.1 and the dimensions are listed in Table 3.1. Three dimensional proper FE model has been created using the commercial SolidWorks package. The load cell has a simple construction with a uniform thickness throughout. The load can be applied via rods screwed into the M10 threads through two holes at the two ends so that the load can be either tensile or compressive. Figure 3.1 (a) 2-D projection of load cell model and (b) basic geometry Table 3.1 Dimensions and properties of the load cell Dimension (mm) Modulus (GN/m2) Ratio (mm) Wherever there is symmetry in the problem it should be made use. By doing so, lot of memory requirement is reduced or in other words more elements can be used with the use of a refined mesh for the same processing time. When symmetry is to be used, it is worth to note that at the right angles to the line of symmetry the displacement is zero (Belyaev, 1979; Rao, 2010). For the load cell simulation in this study, planar symmetry is used, see Figure 3.2. Figure 3.2 Views of planar symmetry as applied to the load cell In the FEA, stiffness matrix of size 1000 1000 or even more is not uncommon. Hence, memory requirement for storing stiffness matrix would be very high. If the user tries to implement the Gaussian elimination straight, he will end up with the problem of memory shortage. So, to reduce memory requirement, according to Belyaev (1979) and Rao (2010), the following techniques are used to store the stiffness matrices: * Use of symmetry and banded nature * Partitioning of matrix (frontal solution). * Skyline storage. 3.3 Stress rising effect In the development of the basic stress equations for tension, compression, bending, and torsion, it was assumed that no geometric irregularities occurred in the member under consideration. But it is quite difficult to design a machine without permitting some changes in the cross sections of the members. Rotating shafts must have shoulders designed on them so that the bearings can be properly seated and so that they will take thrust loads; and the shafts must have key slots machined into them for securing pulleys and gears. A bolt has a head on one end and screw threads on the other end, both of which account for abrupt changes in the cross section. Other parts require holes, oil grooves, and notches of various kinds. Any discontinuity in a machine part alters the stress distribution in the neighborhood of the discontinuity so that the elementary stress equations no longer describe the stress state in the part at these locations. Such discontinuities are called stress raisers, and the regions in which they occur are called areas of stress concentration. The distribution of elastic stress across a section of a member may be uniform as in a bar in tension, linear as a beam in bending, or even rapid and curvaceous as in a sharply curved beam. Stress concentrations can arise from some irregularity not inherent in the member, such as tool marks, holes, notches, grooves, or threads. The nominal stress is said to exist if the member is free of the stress raiser. This definition is not always honored, so check the definition on the stress-concentration chart or table you are using. A theoretical, or geometric, stress-concentration factor or is used to relate the actual maximum stress at the discontinuity to the nominal stress. The factors are defined by Belyaev (1979) as: where is used for normal stresses and for shear stresses. The nominal stress or is more difficult to define. Generally, it is the stress calculated by using the elementary stress equations and the net area, or net cross section. But sometimes the gross cross section is used instead, and so it is always wise to double check your source of or before calculating the maximum stress. The subscript in means that this stress-concentration factor depends on the geometry of the part, see Figure 3.3. So, the material has no effect on and this is the reason it is called theoretical stress-concentration factor. Figure 3.3 Stress concentration factor versus dimensions The analysis of geometric shapes to determine stress-concentration factors is a difficult problem, and not many solutions can be found. Most stress-concentration factors are found by using experimental techniques. Though the finite-element method has been used, the fact that the elements are indeed finite prevents finding the true maximum stress. Experimental approaches generally used include photo-elasticity, grid methods, brittle-coating methods, and electrical strain-gauge methods. Of course, the grid and strain-gauge methods both suffer from the same drawback as the finite-element method (Budynas and Nisbett, 2007). In this study and for the load cell, the simulation demonstrated that the stress is concentrated at two main regions represented at A and B. Stresses are aso concentrated at the threaded holes, as demonstrated in Figure 3.4. As shown, there is a considerably sharp rise of the stress at these locations because the strain gauges at situated at the middle section. Also, this section is of considerably small area compared with the other load cell s cross sections. Figure 3.4 Areas of concern for stress concentration in the load cell 3.4 Restraints justification With the aim of calculating the stress and strain in the middle section of the load cell, the appropriate restraint is used. As we know, the line of action of the applied load, at the upper seat hole, is through a M10 screw. Meanwhile, screw of same size is used to fix the load cell at its bottom base. Accordingly, for the idealisation purposes, it can be said that all the degrees of freedoms (DOFs) are restrained at the location of the hole at the bottom surface, see Figure 3.5. Figure 3.5 Schematics of the first problem Idealisation step In the second step of the problem idealisation, it was assumed that by tightening the screw in the bottom face hole of the load cell will cause all the degrees of freedom to be restrained. Accordingly, this condition can cause decreased simulation lead time and enhance the results, see Figure 3.6. Figure 3.6 Schematics of the second problem Idealisation step As it is clear, different restraint conditions produce variants of boundary conditions. Finally, in the third idealisation, it is assumed that the load cell can rotate about its y-axis to bring the results as close as possible to reality, see Figure 3.7. Figure 3.7 Schematics of the third problem Idealisation step 3.5 Load justification In this section, justifying the applied load is considered throughout the hole of the upper seat. In the first step of the idealisation process, it was assumed that the load is to be applied to affect on the edges of the hole. Therefore, the tension stress transfer to the middle section of load cell where the measurement of stresses and strains are needed, see Figure 3.8. Figure 3.8 First idealisation step required for the load justification The applied force transfers to whole the upper section, there, this points that considering a uniform distributed load in upper section might be a proper assumption. Therefore, to apply the consequent idealisation, uniformly distributed load was allowed to takes an affect directly on the upper section. In the first idealisation, the magnitude of point load was assumed to be 300 N. Therefore, the magnitude of the uniformly distributed load (UDL) is found to be 2.3 N/m2, which is equal to the magnitude of point load, see figure 3.9. Figure 3.9 Application of the uniformly distributed load In the third idealisation, the applied load is assumed to act by means of the M10 screw and throughout the whole upper hole, see Figure 3.10. This assumption is very close to reality and may present very good results which are in good agreement with the hand calculation of stress and strain. Figure 3.10 Applied load act by M10 screw throughout the upper hole 3.6 Element type The largest commercial finite element packages, which have facilities to solve stress and a variety of field problems, might easily have more than one hundred different finite element available for the user. The selection of which element to use by given problem is not as difficult it might first appear, first, the type of problem to be analysis, secondly, the chosen dimensionality of the module restricts range .Before choosing the element type; the engineer should try to predict what is taking place in the problem to be examined. Figure 3.11 shows a typical range of element. Figure 3.11 Typical ranges of elements 4. Discussion of Results 4.1 Aspect ratio The finest accuracy values can be guaranteed with the use of elements meshed using uniform perfect tetrahedral as solid mesh, which has equal length edges. For a general geometry, it is impossible to create a mesh of perfect tetrahedral elements. Due to small edges, curved geometry, thin features, and sharp corners, some of the generated elements can have some of their edges much longer than others. When the edges of an element become much different in length, the accuracy of the results deteriorates. It should be noted that the shape of mesh is critical to analysis as higher density improves solution at the cost of increased computational time. The simple geometry require fewer elements, more complexity requires increased density and the mesh shape is related to the loads and the boundary conditions. The aspect ratio of a perfect tetrahedral element is used as the basis for calculating aspect ratios of other elements. The aspect ratio of an element is defined as the ratio between the longest edge and the shortest normal dropped from a vertex to the opposite face normalized with respect to a perfect tetrahedral (Belyaev, 1979; Rao, 2010). By definition, the aspect ratio of a perfect tetrahedral element is 1.0. The aspect ratio check assumes straight edges connecting the four corner nodes. The aspect ratio check, see Figure 4.1 is automatically used by the program to check the quality of the mesh. Figure 4.1 Aspect ratio checks 4.2 Jacobian check The elements with the parabolic nature can be effectively used with the curved geometry shapes. It is therefore expected to result in more accurate predictions compared with the linear elements even if they are of similar size. In this case, the elemental nodes (on the middle side) of the boundary corners can be situated on the model s real geometry. However, these placements of nodes can cause distorted elements with crossing by edges, in boundaries of very sharp curvature. Accordingly, the Jacobian of such distorted element would be of negative values, which can cause cancelled software operation of analysis. Selected points situated within each model element can be used to perform the Jacobian checks. The software package allows the user to select the Jacobian check limits i.e. using 4, 16, or 29 nodal Gaussian points. The Jacobian ratio of a parabolic tetrahedral element, with all mid-side nodes located exactly at the middle of the straight edges, is 1.0. This ratio increases with the curvatures of the edges. At a point inside the element, this ratio provides a measure of the degree of local elemental distortion. The software calculates the Jacobian ratio at the selected number of Gaussian points for each tetrahedral element, see Figure 4.2. Based on stochastic studies, it is generally seen that a Jacobian ratio of forty or less is acceptable. The software adjusts the locations of the mid-side nodes of distorted elements automatically to make sure that all elements pass the Jacobian check (Belyaev, 1979; Rao, 2010). Figure 4.2 Jacobian ratio checks 4.3 Connectivity of elements and mesh grading To achieve an accurate result we need to check the connectivity of all elements so precisely. Any discontinuity may result in large error in stress or strain or displacement calculation in purposed area. With the aim of this, after checking all the area of the load cell, no dis-connectivity was observed. Also mesh grading illustrated in Figure 4.3. Figure 4.3 Mesh grading checks In areas of the model where there are high stress gradients it is normally necessary to use more elements to obtain a high quality solution. Often this will happen automatically when an automatic mesh generator is used. This is because the mesh generator uses the segments (e.g. arcs, straight lines, surfaces) of the solid model as a starting point for the mesh. Since the high stress gradients will be around geometry that changes within a short distance, these seeding features will be small. However, it may be necessary to control mesh quality either to force smaller elements where they have not been automatically generated or to allow larger elements where the analysis does not need to be accurate. 4.4 Displacement and stress discontinuity The plot representing displacement variations can be utilised for displacement discontinuity checks (Barrans, 2010). This can solely takes place at the elements connected incorrectly. It also takes place for the improperly defined geometries so slivers and small gaps can exist as a blackboard. Checking the displacement of load cell visually shows that there is no displacement discontinuity, see Figure 4.4. Figure 4.4 Displacement discontinuity checks After the nodal displacements evaluation, the code continued to evaluate, for each element, the strain and stress values, separately. The stress was evaluated at specific element points, which are intentionally placed to enable having accurate outcomes and they are termed Gaussian or quadrature. After calculating the stresses at these points, the code calculated the nodal stresses for each element by extrapolation. For an exact solution, all elements should give identical stress values at their common nodes. While the displacement field obtained by FEA was continuous, stress field was discontinuous from an element to another. Different elements give stress values that are generally different at a common node. The code calculated the nodal stress, see Figure 4.5, at common node by averaging the values at the contributing elements (Belyaev, 1979; Rao, 2010). Figure 4.5 Nodal stresses evaluation 4.5 Sensible displaced shape Figure 4.6 shows, and as predicted, the most sensible displaced section is the middle section of the load cell. Figure 4.6 most sensible displaced section 4.6 Approximate stress and displacement As shown in Figures 4.7 through 4.9, the results of the simulation are in good agreement with the hand calculation of stress and strain. Figure 4.7 Manually evaluated stresses are as the marked value (4.92 x107N/m2) Figure 4.8 Manually evaluated strain values are about the marked value (1.46 x10-4) Figure 4.9Justification of stresses matching 4.7 Stress discontinuity In order to evaluate the stress discontinuity, three values are requires for the principle stress, which are the maximum, mid and the minimum value. The dark spots represent the places at which there is stress discontinuity, see Figure 4.10. Figure 4.10 Discontinuity in the values of stresses in the adjacent elements. Stress discontinuity evaluation The values of the principle stresses at different shown in figure 4.11 were evaluated and then used to calculate the stress discontinuity. The stress values and displacement are also shown. Figure 4.11 Values of the stresses in the adjacent elements The stress discontinuity at each node is evaluated from: Stress discontinuity (%) = = Stress discontinuity (%) = 17.12 % It should be noted that the nearly zero displacements at the two nodes used in the calculations proved the right choice of constrains of the complete fixation of the seating face. 4.8 Convergence study displacement and stress Figures 4.12 and 4.13 show the stress and displacement convergence diagrams. These figures demonstrated the convergence with continue solution using the software as plotted against the loop numbers. Figure 4.12 Stress convergence diagram Figure 4.13 Displacement convergence diagram Moreover, Table 4.1 shows the convergence results for Von-Mises stress values at different nodes. Also the presentation of these stresses against the number of elements is given in Figure 4.14. Table 4.1 Stress convergence at different nodes Node Figure 4.14 Von Mises stress versus elemental number Also, Table 4.2 shows the convergence results for the displacement values at different nodes. Also the presentation of these displacement values versus the number of elements is given in Figure 4.15. Table 4.2 Displacement convergence at different nodes Node4 Figure 4.15 Displacement stress versus elemental number 5. Conclusion Load cell unit has been modeled using the finite element software. As well, hand calculations were performed to evaluate the values of the stresses and displacement. The load cell was first idealised so as to ease the modelling processing. The model was built and the predicted results showed that the displacement was higher at the mid sections of the load cell. The predicted results when compared with the manual calculations showed good agreement for the stress and displacement.