Ebook: Advances in Manufacturing Technology XXX

The International Conference on Manufacturing Research (ICMR) is a major event for academics and industrialists who are engaged in manufacturing research. Held annually in the UK since the late 1970s, the conference is renowned as a friendly and inclusive environment that brings together a broad community of researchers who share a common goal; developing and managing the technologies and operations that are key to sustaining the success of manufacturing businesses. For over two decades, ICMR has been the main manufacturing research conference organised in the UK, successfully bringing researchers, academics and industrialists together to share their knowledge and experiences. Initiated as a National Conference by the Consortium of UK University Manufacturing and Engineering (COMEH), it became an International Conference in 2003.

COMEH is an independent body established in 1978. Its main aim is to promote manufacturing engineering education, training and research. To achieve this, the Consortium maintains a close liaison with government bodies concerned with the training and continuing development of professional engineers, while responding to the appropriate consultative and discussion documents and other initiatives. COMEH is represented on the Engineering Professor's council (EPC) and it organises and supports manufacturing engineering education research conferences and symposia. Hosts for National Conferences on Manufacturing Research (NCMR) have been:

1985 Nottingham

1986 Napier

1987 Nottingham

1988 Sheffield

1989 Huddersfield

1990 -

1991 Hatfield

1992 Central England

1993 Bath

1994 Loughborough

1995 De Montfort

1996 Bath

1997 Glasgow Caledonian

1998 Derby

1999 Bath

2000 East London

2001 Cardiff

2002 Leeds Metropolitan

In 2002 the conference was accorded the title International (ICMR) to reflect the current trends in manufacturing engineering and to promote the exchange of research and engineering application experiences internationally. The ICMR, has since its introduction, incorporated the NCMR. The 14th ICMR incorporates the 31st NCMR. The host universities for ICMR have been:

2003 Strathclyde

2004 Sheffield Hallam

2005 Cranfield

2006 Liverpool John Moores

2007 Leicester De Montfort

2008 Brunel

2009 Warwick

2010 Durham

2011 Glasgow Caledonian

2012 Aston

2013 Cranfield

2014 Southampton Solent

2015 Bath

2016 Loughborough

With the technological advancement in manufacturing techniques in recent decades, a large amount of manufacturing data has been created. Some OEMs recognised the importance of such data and were able to capture and analyse the data to support their manufacturing planning and processes etc. and the application of lean principles. JCB is one of the world's top three manufacturers of construction equipment and produces a range of over 300 machines from 22 factories across 4 continents. Although a set of standardised manufacturing procedures and lean strategy are in place at all JCB plants throughout the globe, the diversity in people culture, supplier chain infrastructure, demand from the market etc. causes additional data analysis to provide a more substantial and dynamic data driven decision making process to face such challenges. Organizational infrastructure may require to be altered to accommodate the additional elements in data capturing, analysis and sharing with specific people or departments. A case study is presented to explain some of these data analysis techniques and the data management infrastructure currently employed within different JCB facilities across the globe to feed critical information into the decision making processes, such as globalisation, localisation, new product introduction, dynamic manufacturing capacity and capability for turbulent market demand and supply chain stability etc.

A path traversed by the tip of a cutting tool, as it manufactures a component, is called a toolpath. Undesirable geometric properties of a toolpath can cause undesirable kinematic behaviour in a machine's axes. To ensure a tool's motion is more controlled, look-ahead and toolpath smoothing algorithms anticipate and change kinematic demands of machine axes. Often the effect is that the actual toolpath is different to the intended toolpath. In such cases, the shape of the manufactured component is different to the desired shape. This paper considers the effect of toolpath geometry on machine axis motion. The results of the investigation motivate the control of toolpath geometry to produce smoother axis motion. This smoother motion can result in the manufacturing of components closer in shape to their desired designs.

In this work, mathematical models were developed to simulate the temperature distribution in two flute and four flute end mills during slotting operations. The Differential equation obtained by modelling the physics of the machining process, subject to appropriate boundary conditions based on energy interactions at the tool boundary, was solved by finite difference method implemented in MATLAB^TM. Descriptive geometric equations were also developed to define the boundary of the tool. Temperature distribution results were obtained typical of a High Speed Steel tool machining a mild steel workpiece subject to variations in machining parameters such as Tool diameter of 25mm, depth of cut of 2mm, Tool Feed of 0.17mm/tooth, Tool Speed of 860 rpm, Tool material conductivity of 40W/m.K, Tool specific heat capacity of 475J/kg.K, Tool density of 8150kg/m³, Specific energy of Tool-workpiece material pair of 4 W.s/mm³.

By using acoustic emission (AE) it is possible to control deviations and surface quality during micro milling operations. The controlling of such deviations are based on large amounts of associated wear especially in rapid micro machining environments With an increase in AE it is possible to see when tool wear is approaching critical levels and requires swap out. AE is very sensitive to tool wear especially in some micro environments where other measurements can be prone to errors and difficulties. In addition, in the case of drilling both force and power are considered sensitive to tool wear. In the case of drilling it was possible to use rules based on both Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Neural Networks (NN) to implement a simulation displaying how such a control regime could be used in a real time environment; corrective measures correlated to wear levels providing control automated tool changes.

It is well known that vibration plays a major role in human live, though it is mainly seen as negative. However, sciences and engineering have exploited positive aspects of vibration by intelligently applying it to various processes. This paper presents the application of vibration to grinding that accounts for 25% of all manufacturing processes. Here, model of surface grinding is elaborated along with a superimposition of oscillation to the workpiece. Conventional and vibratory grinding are explored and some key findings are reported. The results show that superimposing low vibration to the grinding process leads to a reduction of cutting forces, improved surface quality and results into less energy requirement.

Polymers have wide range of applications in all human activities. Recent policies on environment and resource efficient mean that new efficient production and engineering processes need developing. This paper presents a new approach of laser irradiation of polymer aiming at inducing specific conductivity properties. Under the influence of a CO2 laser irradiation of polymers in the air, new macromolecular chemical and physical structures were engendered, which have electrical conductivity and paramagnetic properties. The conductivity of these substances are due to formation of carbon chains with conjugated double bonds and paramagnetic centres due to free radicals and charges localized around the structural defects near the surfaces of polymer sheet. The results show the formation of electrical conducting channels with desirable configuration in very short time without high vacuum, which can be used for production of printed circuits. This isn't achievable by high temperature treatment of polymers in room environment

Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is an innovative approach to manufacturing sheet components. It has many advantages over traditional sheet forming processes, such as the absence of tooling and the reduced (per part) costs, which reveal its great potential. However, currently SPIF is not widely used in industrial production. In order to increase its applicability and to guarantee its viability, challenges, such as the control of thinning or the dimensional inaccuracies of the formed parts have to be mastered. Furthermore, in order to reduce pre-production trials and to improve the forming process's performance reliable computational simulation methods are needed. Computational modelling and analysis of SPIF, however, is complex due to several nonlinearities inherent in the process. For the efficient use of available software systems advanced simulation methods and methodologies are required. This paper presents a summary of the challenges and limitations of computation modelling applications in incremental sheet forming.

The process of injection moulding (IM) is one of the most widely employed methods for manufacturing an extremely diverse range of polymeric parts of varying size and complexity. To match the final application requirements a base material is often modified by certain additives to enhance the material performance. However, the objective of the current research is to explore the effect of different process parameters on the toughness properties of IM polyamide (PA) materials with the aim of customizing the material to meet specific needs. Material suppliers provide their customers with discrete values regarding the mechanical properties, but they only suggest broad windows when specifying processing conditions like the melt temperature. Test samples produced within, as well as below and above the recommendations were produced and tested regarding their quasi-static tensile and instrumented impact behaviour, showing significant differences in performance.

The quality of injection moulded polymer optic parts depends on the surface finish of the respective mould. The aim of this research is to predict the material removal that occurs during the polishing process and hence control the surface finish of steel moulds. Eight to fourteen parameters affect the material removal during the polishing process. A finite element simulation model, based on abrasive wear theory, is developed to predict the removal of material and thus the final surface topology. This simulation model will eliminate the iterative trial and error polishing, thus facilitating fast and accurate mould production.

The electrical Field Activated Sintering Technology (FAST) process uses low voltage and high current, pressure-assisted sintering and synthesis technique, which has been used recently in materials processing. This method can be used to densify materials and create compounds, and it is similar to hot pressing, but the mechanism of the heating and powder densification are different. In this paper an innovative methodology has been adapted from the FAST process that can decrease the volume of the components into micro scale and called (Micro-FAST). This process is a rapid powder consolidation technology and shows the possibility to produce solid parts from powder material. Using Magnesia-Stabilized Zirconia (MSZ) powder material, several processing parameters have been investigated, such as pressure, heating rate, heating temperature and holding time, which helped to gain optimum results. In this paper Ø4.00 mm×4.00 mm and Ø2.00 mm×2.00 mm cylinder solid samples were shaped. The SEM and EDS have been conducted and the relative density has been examined and the results showed a very good fabricated sample with 99.83% relative density.

The Alumina (Al₂O₃), also known as Aluminium oxide, has a good thermal conductivity, but it is an electrical insulator. The Alumina is being used widely in the industry. Several research the sintering of Alumina using the conventional hot pressing process or spark plasma sintering (SPS). However, these methods are and have their own limits and disadvantages, such as long process chains and low efficiency with the processes and, rarely developed for the forming of miniature and micro-scale components. In this study conducted in the report. A new process has been used adapted from the electric-current activated sintering techniques (FAST) and it is been combined with micro-forming technology and called the (Micro-FAST). The Alumina powders were loaded directly into the die, followed by electric-sintering under certain pressure. In this paper Ø4.00 mm×4.00 mm and Ø2.00 mm×2.00 mm cylinder solid samples were produced. This experiment was conducted by use of a Gleeble 3800 thermal-mechanical simulator. Several properties of the solid samples, such as relative density, ESM and EDS, were examined, and these showed good results have been obtained.

This paper describes a methodology for assessing the applicability of the flow forming process for the manufacture of specific components. The process starts by filtering potential candidates for flow forming from a component collection (e.g. company catalogue) and then carries out a detailed assessment of quantitative, technological and economic feasibility before determining a viable process plan. The process described uses analytical relationships and empirical criteria drawn from the literature. A process time model (based on an analogy with CNC turning) is used to develop a hybrid cost model in order to evaluate economic feasibility. The paper concluded with a brief summary of the results of applying the process to an industrial case study.

Chip removal processes are one of key processes of the manufacturing industry where chip removal is conducted by tool inserts of exceptionally hard materials. Tungsten carbide has been extensively used as tool insert for machining processes involving chip removal processes. These hard materials are generally fabricated by single step sintering process as further modification after fabrication in these materials cannot be done easily. Advances in tool surface modification have revealed that advantages such as improved tribological properties and extended tool life can be harnessed from the same tool by texturing the tool rake surface. Moreover, it has been observed that the shape and location of the texture also influences the behavior. Although texturing offers plentiful advantages the challenge lies in the generation of textures on the tool surface. Extremely hard material such as diamond is required to process tungsten carbide. Laser is unique processing tool that does not have a physical contact with the material and thus does not wear. In this research the potential of utilizing laser for texturing of tungsten carbide to develop custom features would be studied. A parametric study of texturing of Tungsten Carbide with a femto second laser would be conducted to investigate the process parameters and establish the feasible processing window. The effect of fluence, scan speed and number of repetition would be viewed in detail. Moreover, the mechanism for the generation of features would also be reviewed.

This paper investigates the opportunities and limitations of using Additive Manufacturing (AM) in rotating machinery, focusing on Selective Laser Melting (SLM). A planetary transmission is used as a case study; the components are redesigned to avoid the limitations of the AM technology. The redesigned parts are manufactured by SLM; this study reveals different challenges that are encountered during the redesign of a component that is made using AM technology when it is originally designed for traditional manufacturing processes. The modifications in the design necessary to adapt a part for AM along with the proposed solution to deal with the limitations of the technology are presented on this paper.

Additive Manufacturing can be utilised for the repair and remanufacture of metallic components with reduced replacement costs and with the potential for better mechanical and wear resistance properties ensuring remanufactured components are better than or equal to originals. This paper presents the current data concerning Laser Metal Deposition deployment conditions and their relationship to material microstructure evolution and mechanical properties. The study highlights the need for experiments involving scan path geometry and topology and details the experiments currently in preparation.

The exploitation of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the repair and remanufacture of industrial components, such as moulds and dies, has become an emerging research area due to the expected reduction of replacement cost and the promise of better mechanical and wear resistance properties – moreover, the use of remanufacturing standards ensures a greater than or equal to warranty part quality. Further studies plan to utilize Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) to remanufacture artificially worn H13 Steel samples, allowing benchmarking studies to be conducted in order to compare the mechanical and wear resistance performance of LMD against current welding repair technologies. The specimens will be subjected to an accelerated pressure and elevated temperatures schedule, simulating the loading cycles during the use of the die sets. The effects on the resulting part properties of different process parameters setup, including the type and characteristics of the deposited powder will be studied.

Ecoegg a household products company, approached BEC Group to resolve difficulties with its five part ‘dryer-egg’. Difficulties included complex production processes creating poor consistency and quality. The brief included the enhancement of its proven and unique helix spiked design.

BEC designed, developed, manufactured and tested a new TPE product solution utilising a single part design to automate the final production of the part and improve functionality for the consumer. This process resulted in a complete re-design of the injection mould tool, which involved a hybrid approach of traditional toolmaking and Direct Metal Laser Sintering for the production of the complex cores. The outcomes were:

• Reduced tooling lead times

• Improved cooling lines in the printed cores allowing reduced cycle times

• Improved quality and resistance

• Improved capacity

• Reduction in costs

The result: the first fully automated production mould tool.

The development speed and application range of the additive manufacturing (AM) processes, such as selective laser melting (SLM), laser metal deposition (LMD) or laser-engineering net shaping (LENS), are ever-increasing in modern advanced manufacturing field for rapid manufacturing, tooling repair or surface enhancement of the critical metal components. LMD is based on a kind of directed energy deposition (DED) technology which ejects a strand of metal powders into a moving molten pool caused by energy-intensive laser to finally generate the solid tracks on the workpiece surface. Accurate numerical modelling of LMD process is considered to be a big challenge due to the involvement of multiple phase changes and accompanied mass and heat flows. This paper overviews the existing advancement of additive manufacturing, especially its subcategory relating to the DED. The LMD process is analyzed in detail and subsequently broken down to facilitate the simulation of each physical stage involved in the whole process, including powder transportation and dynamics, micro-mechanical modelling, formation of deposited track and residual stress on the substrate. The proposed modelling considerations and a specific CFD model of powder feeding will assist in accurately simulating the DED process; it is particularly useful in the field of aerospace manufacturing which normally has demanding requirements on its products.

This paper investigates the effects of the microstructure of a composite material (including fibre volume fraction, fibre distribution and bonding quality between fibre and matrix) on normalized maximum principal stress under transverse tension and shear of a unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced composite. The normalized maximum principal stress is defined as the stress ratio of maximum principal stress to the load applied. A Finite Element (FE) model using a concept unit cell with different composite characteristics subjected to transverse tension and shear has been developed to enable an understanding of microscopic damage mechanisms and failure behavior for carbon/epoxy composites. This information, which has been verified against physical test results, is vital to instruct the composite manufacturing process and part design criteria.

Low silicon bainite cast irons are most advanced and promising structural materials. Due to their high technological plasticity these alloys can be used for parts production by casting and hot plastic deformation. This results in a structure refinement, reduced wastage, pores elimination and increased productivity. Therefore, these materials withstand range of external technological processes (thermal-mechanical treatment, isothermal heat treatment) aimed at forming in cast irons new structural properties, which increase their performance (strength, fracture resistance, wear resistance under dry and abrasive friction) This work studied processes of austenite formation and austenite decomposition in low silicon-aluminium cast irons. Temperature-time dependence on the formation of bainite and martensite structures in these alloys was identified. Active influence of aluminium on the phase composition of cast irons after heat treatment was defined. Based on data obtained, a preliminary plastic deformation of these alloys extends the process control of structural modification during subsequent isothermal heat treatment.