With rapid growth of the global electric vehicle market, interest in the development of secondary batteries such as lithium batteries is also increasing. Core functional parts of secondary batteries are known to determine the performance of these batteries. Micro cracks, scratches, and markings that may occur during the manufacturing process must be checked in advance. As part of developing an automated inspection system based on machine vision, this study optimized the design of a linear feeder exposed to an environment with a specific operating frequency continuously to transfer parts at a constant supply speed. Resonance can occur when the natural frequency and the operating frequency of the linear feeder are within a similar range. It can negatively affect stable supply and the process of finding good or defective products during subsequent vision tests. In this study, vibration characteristics of the linear feeder were analyzed using mode analysis, frequency response analysis, and finite element analysis. An optimal design plan was derived based on this. After evaluating effects on vibration characteristics for structures in which vibrations or periodic loads such as mass and rails were continuously applied, the shape of the optimal linear feeder was presented using RSM.

This paper proposes a new rotary welding torch with a ball-jointed mechanical seal structure that simultaneously realizes the enclosure of CO₂ gas, the energization of welding current, and the insulation for system protection. In order to effectively compare the operation mechanism of the proposed device with the conventional rotary welding torch, a schematic technique is introduced to clearly visualize the operation and connection structure of the model. The kinematic state and constraint degrees of freedom of the tool are clearly shown, and it is easy to distinguish between the two designs that use different component parts and connection structures but result in the same final motion. In addition, the four dynamic characteristics of a rotary torch operating at 20 Hz (driving torque, vibration reaction force, natural frequency, and inertial mismatch) were analyzed to demonstrate superior performance to conventional products. The welding test showed that the tool normally operated even in a harsh welding environment, verifying its applicability in the field.

The vibration analysis of flexible rotor systems supported by angular contact ball bearings is presented. Vibration analysis of rotor-ball bearing systems has often been performed via simplification of supporting bearings as linear springs with constant stiffness. In this study, an improved model of rotor-ball bearing systems was proposed. It utilizes a general bearing model based on response and time-dependent bearing characteristics. The system equations of motion were established using the finite-element method and numerically solved using the Newmark-β method. The method was used to recalculate the bearing stiffness matrices at every interval of numerical integration as a function of the instantaneous bearing displacements using a separated five-degrees-of-freedom bearing model. The method was verified via comparison with experimental data available in the literature. The extended simulations were conducted to investigate the unbalanced responses of a rotor-ball bearing system using the proposed and conventional methods. Numerical results showed a meaningful discrepancy between the vibrational responses obtained by the proposed model using the response and timedependent bearing stiffness model and the traditional constant-stiffness model.