CES, Manufacturing Process Selection - Research Paper Example

Executive summary The various types of process involved in the component manufacture include joining, shaping and surface treatment. These are also divided into different subcategory in order to be specific in the various processes involved. For example fasteners, casting, machining, powder methods. CES is the best software used in the selection of these processes and the type of material used. Since different materials have various properties CES is able to differentiate for each material and determine the process involved. This is done by drawing the graph. Introduction Manufacture is the process of combining various materials using diversity of process in order to come up with a product or service in order to satisfy the end user. The materials being used must be selected economically. In order to manufacture the best component a detailed selection of the materials being used must be chosen appropriately. The various types of process involved in the component manufacture include joining, shaping and surface treatment. These are also divided into different subcategory in order to be specific in the various processes involved. For example fasteners, casting, machining, powder methods. There is always a link between material, process, design, performance and economics of the product manufacture through joining or shaping. If there is poor selection of the material being used then the process of manufacture will not be successful, this will lead to wrong design of the product. The performance also will be affected because of the wrong design. This will intern affect the economic viability of the product since it will not meet the customer’s expectation. In order to understand the whole process of material selection, the process involved and their performance, software was invented that can perform different functions. The software is called Cambridge engineering selector. Its main uses are selection of a specific tool, as a material selection tool, as a database of material-related and process-related data. Any type of material can be selected from the database with their properties both physical and mechanical. From that the best manufacturing process can be identified in order to come up with the best design possible. Material selection When carrying out material selection different aspects need to be considered in order to come up with the best design for an effective performance. The design process involve several processes; determining the market need or design requirements, developing concept or ways in which the requirement can be met, feasibility study, doing the actual design which entail coming up with a detailed drawing of a component and finally prototype testing. This is where the product is tested to confirm if it is viable or can be officially released. CES can easily do material selection this is because it comes up with a large database that contains all the information of different materials. In order launch CES dashboard, this is done via the CES icon on the desktop. On opening the icon the following dashboard will appear. (Hyes & Wheelright, 1984) On the top most left side of the dashboard click on the browse. This will enable one to provide a database of material related data and process related data. The data base are classified as level 1,2,and 3 beginning by selecting level 3 database. Here materials will be split into 5 various classes as shown below. (Hayes & Wheelright, 1979). Each of these categories can further be opened in order to their sub-categories. By clicking the metals icon the following subcategories are viewed. 1. Metal and alloys 2. Non-ferrous alloys 3. Aluminum alloys 4. Wrought alloys 5. 6000 series 6. 6060 alloys 7. T4 or T6 (heat treatment/ tempering designation) When further properties of the Aluminum, 6060, wrought, T4 need to be determined then alloy designation should be double clicked. This will reveal specific properties including the composition detail, the price, physical properties and mechanical properties. (Hill & Terry, 2000) The database provides a wide variety of material with their properties, this can allow for comparison with other metals in order to determine the best processing method to be used. It reduces uncertainty about which materials should be used in order to manufacture component. Process selection Process selection involves choosing the best manufacturing methods that can be used in the process of combining material in order to produce different component. Processes that are commonly used include joining process, surface finish process and shaping process. Some processes cannot be used in some materials because of the different properties in various metals. CES can easily provide the best process selection. This can be done by switching from material universe to process universe. Click on the icon on the right of the dashboard as shown below. As before the process selection can also be divided into subcategories which can be followed until a specified process is reached. For example in the diagram below, the process has been followed until cosworth casting process has been reached. CES provide a clear description of the process to be used using clearly labeled diagram in order to help understand the type of process one is dealing with. (Elsevier & Butterworth, 2010) CES can also be used as a material selection tool. This is started by clicking bulk materials and the process involves a number of stages. Relationship between material, process, design and performance Before designing any component, requirements should be clearly stated and the constraints should be identified. When best material selection is done, that conforms to the type of processing to be used. The processing steps will be performed without any difficulties. Since the best processes has been selected the design process will now be easy right from the problem definition, problem solving, problem division, problem strategy, solution development up to the final stage of product release. After the best design of the product is done, the product will be able to carry out its performance effectively according to the customer’s aspirations. This will increase the product demand hence more customers will come for the same product. Due to the product stability in the market the economic status will be high. Range of techniques available for joining engineering components Different component formed from different processes Here different components are studied including their properties, joining processes, and performance. Spark plug insulator This component mainly consist of insulator, alumina. Its weight is about 0.05kg and has a precision of 0.2mm. The best selection can be done using CES software. Selection exercise usually involves various stages. 1 stage is the optimization where the objective of the exercise is full filled. 2 stages is the prospective stage where materials are eliminated which does not pass minimum requirement. In the optimization stage, for example if we are dealing with selection exercise involving for strong light material the following index is needed. (ashby, 2014) M = σy0.5/ρ It involves the yield strength and the density of the material. In CES a chart is first plotted of (log) yield strength vs (log) density of the material. Click on the icon on the second selection stage. The performance index will tell us everything we need to know about the selection chart to be plotted. (Croover, 1996) In the y axis yield strength need to be plotted which is a mechanical property, therefore mechanical property is selected. In the x axis density need to be plotted this is a physical property, physical property is then selected. (Waterby & Ashman, 1991) In the graph stage wizard click ok to confirm the selection and the graph should appear as below. For the case of spark plug insulator combines material and mass, therefore subset ceramic process is selected to produce component of different masses. Different processes are available that can be used in the manufacture of spark plug and shape fine ceramics. (Dixon & poli, 1995) The second stage combines primary processes with section thickness. This produces primary processes capable for making section. Another stage combine surface finish; primary shaping process with roughness less than10 μ m The processes include green sand casting, die pressing and sintering and powder injection molding. The processes that are successful are CVD, sintering. Spark plugs have a competitive market therefore the cost of manufacture should be kept as low as possible through value engineering and value analysis. (Abel & Edwards, 1994)Aluminum (Metal) For the case of aluminum 3 processes are capable of manufacturing aluminum cowling. The processes include spinning, deep drawing and stamping. As shown in the figure below. (Ashby, 1992) Conclusion Most of the engineering components can be manufactured using different processes. The type of process will depend on the type of material selected, this called appropriate and accurate selection of material. CES software helps in the material and process selection through looking down into the material properties and determining the processes that can be used in the manufacture of the component. In the case above spark plug and aluminum cowling was studied and different processes were identified that can lead to formation of the components. CES provide a database where the material information if contained. This reduces the difficulty of straining in finding different properties of a particular material. In this study various processes involved in material and component manufacture were identified. The processes identified were joining processes, shaping processes and surface finish processes. From the analysis above if the end component is more competitive in the market due to the process used then the cost of manufacture should be kept as low as possible. This can only be done through value analysis and value engineering. CES can narrow down into selecting the best manufacturing technique given the requirement, for example the material properties. This is determined by drawing a graph of the material property against the primary process using CES. CES therefore provide the best selection method of materials and processes of different component. Bibliography Abel & Edwards, 1994. Material processing and the environment in engineering design. New York: plenum press. Ashby, 1992. Material selection in mechanical design. Cambridge press: Pergemon press. ashby, M., 2014. material selection. uk: Granta Design limited. Croover, 1996. Fundamentals of modern manufacturing. Prentice -hall: s.n. Dixon & poli, 1995. Engineering design and design for manufacturing a structured approach. conway: Fieldstone publisher. Elsevier & Butterworth, 2010. Material selection in mechanical design. uk: Granta design limited. Hayes & Wheelright, 1979. Link Manufacturing process. New York: British publisher. Hill & Terry, 2000. Manufacturing strategy. New york: McCraw-Hill publisher. Hyes & Wheelright, 1984. Restoring our competitive edge through manufacturing. New York: Wiley publisher. Waterby & Ashman, 1991. Material selector. Boca Raton: CRC press. Read More