Tuesday, June 30, 2009

39) LIST OF ENGINEERING TOPICS FOR LETTER "K"

Kelvin
The kelvin (symbol: K) is a unit increment of temperature and is one of the seven SI base units. The Kelvin scale is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale where absolute zero, the theoretical absence of all thermal energy, is zero (0 K). The Kelvin scale and the kelvin are named after the British physicist and engineer William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), who wrote of the need for an "absolute thermometric scale". Unlike the degree Fahrenheit and degree Celsius, the kelvin is not referred to as a "degree", nor is it typeset with a degree symbol; that is, it is written K and not °K.

Kilogram-force
The unit kilogram-force (kgf or just kg) or kilopond (kp) is defined as the magnitude of the force exerted on one kilogram of mass by a 9.80665 m/s2 gravitational field (standard gravity, a conventional value approximating the average magnitude of gravity on Earth). So one kilogram-force is by definition equal to 9.80665 newtons.[1][2] Similarly a gram-force is 9.80665 millinewtons (or 0.00980665 newtons), and a milligram-force is 9.80665 micronewtons (or 9.80665×10-6 newtons).

The kilogram-force has never been a part of the International System of Units (SI), which was introduced in 1960. The SI unit of force is the newton.

Prior to this, the unit was widely used in much of the world; it is still in use for some purposes. The thrust of a rocket engine, for example, was measured in kilograms-force in 1940s Germany, in the Soviet Union (where it remained the primary unit for thrust in the Russian space program until at least the late 1980s), and it is still used today in China and sometimes by the European Space Agency.

It is also used for tension of bicycle spokes, for torque measured in "meter-kilograms", for pressure in kilograms per square centimeter, for the draw weight of bows in archery, and to define the "metric horsepower" (PS) as 75 metre-kiloponds per second.

The gram-force and kilogram-force were never well-defined units until the CGPM adopted a standard acceleration of gravity of 980.665 cm/s² for this purpose in 1901, though they had been used in low-precision measurements of force before that time.

A tonne-force, metric ton-force, megagram-force, or megapond (Mp) is 1000 kilograms-force.

The decanewton or dekanewton (daN) is used in some fields as an approximation to the kilogram-force, being exactly rather than approximately 10 newtons.


Kinematics
Kinematics (from Greek ???e??, kinein, to move) is the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of objects without consideration of the causes leading to the motion.

“ It is natural to begin this discussion by considering the various possible types of motion in themselves, leaving out of account for a time the causes to which the initiation of motion may be ascribed; this preliminary enquiry constitutes the science of Kinematics. — ET Whittaker ”

Kinematics is not to be confused with another branch of classical mechanics: analytical dynamics (the study of the relationship between the motion of objects and its causes), sometimes subdivided into kinetics (the study of the relation between external forces and motion) and statics (the study of the relations in a system at equilibrium). Kinematics also differs from dynamics as used in modern-day physics to describe time-evolution of a system.

The term kinematics is less common today than in the past, but still has a role in physics. (See analytical dynamics for more detail on usage). The term "kinematics" also finds use in biomechanics and animal locomotion.

The simplest application of kinematics is for particle motion, translational or rotational. The next level of complexity is introduced by the introduction of rigid bodies, which are collections of particles having time invariant distances amongst themselves. Rigid bodies might undergo translation and rotation or a combination of both. A more complicated case is the kinematics of a system of rigid bodies, possibly linked together by mechanical joints.

The kinematic description of fluid flow is even more complicated, and not generally thought of in the context of kinematics.

Kirchhoff's circuit laws
Kirchhoff's circuit laws are two equalities that deal with the conservation of charge and energy in electrical circuits, and were first described in 1845 by Gustav Kirchhoff. Widely used in electrical engineering, they are also called Kirchhoff's rules or simply Kirchhoff's laws (see also Kirchhoff's laws for other meanings of that term).

Both circuit rules can be directly derived from Maxwell's equations, but Kirchhoff preceded Maxwell and instead generalized work by Georg Ohm.



Knurling
Knurling is a manufacturing process, typically conducted on a lathe, whereby a visually-attractive diamond-shaped (criss-cross) pattern is cut or rolled into metal. This pattern allows hands or fingers to get a better grip on the knurled object than would be provided by the originally-smooth metal surface. Occasionally, the knurled pattern is a series of straight ridges or a helix of "straight" ridges rather than the more-usual criss-cross pattern.

Knurling may also be used as a repair method: because a rolled-in knurled surface has raised-up areas surrounding the depressed areas, these raised areas can make up for wear on the part. In the days when labor was cheap and parts expensive, this repair method was feasible on pistons of internal combustion engines, where the skirt of a worn piston was expanded back to the nominal size using a knurling process. As auto parts have become less expensive, knurling has become less prevalent than it once was, and is specifically recommended against by performance engine builders.

Knurling can also be used when a high precision component will be assembled into a low precision component, for example a metal pin into a plastic molding. The outer surface of the metal pin is knurled so that the raised detail 'bites' into the plastic irrespective of whether the size of the hole in the plastic closely matches the diameter of the pin.

On the lathe, knurl cutting is usually accomplished using the same automatic-feed mechanisms that are used to cut screw threads; knurling can be thought of as simply a series of threads cut at extremely coarse pitch and in both the left-hand and right-hand directions.

More common than knurl cutting, knurl rolling is usually accomplished using one or more very hard rollers that contain the reverse of the pattern to be imposed. It is possible for a "straight" knurl (not criss-crossed) to be pressed with a single roller, however the material needs to be supported adequately to avoid deformation. A criss-cross pattern can be accomplished using any of:

A single roller that contains the reverse of the complete desired pattern. These are available to form either "male" or "female" patterns,
A left-handed straight roller followed by a right-handed straight roller (or vice-versa), or
One or more left-handed rollers used simultaneously with one or more right-handed rollers.
Rolled knurls are somewhat more complicated to design than cut knurls because the outer diameter of the work piece must be chosen to allow the roller to roll an integral number of patterns around the workpiece. By comparison, for cut knurls, the spacing of the cuts is not preset and can be adjusted to allow an integral number of patterns around the workpiece no matter what the diameter of the workpiece.

Hand knurling tools are available. These resemble pipecutters but contain knurling wheels rather than cutting wheels. Usually, three wheels are carried by the tool: two left-handed wheels and one right-handed wheel or vice-versa.




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