Handbook of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology

This book chapter is about fundamentals of polymers which emphasize characteristics and applications of polymer and polymer composite, in addition to current progress and future research scope for this class of materials and their applications. The general concepts that are readily used in the field of polymer and polymer composite are discussed. This book chapter can provide basic understanding on polymer and polymer composite for newcomers. Then, the physical and mechanical properties of polymer and polymer-composites are described. Discussions on reinforced polymer composite highlighting on fabrication and characterization of polymer composite are provided, and particular importance is placed on the use. Discussions on the various nanofillers in polymer composites and their modification using various techniques have been focused on in this book chapter.

Chapter 3, “Polymer Surface Treatment and Coating Technologies” mainly discusses the extensive studies which have been carried out on properties and applications of polymer and polymer nanocomposites in the field of bioelectronics. It also highlights on some of the interesting engineering applications such as high-performance composites used in aerospace application. In addition to that, we briefly talked about biodegradable as well as biocompatible polymers which have gained significant attention due to its widespread use in the preparation of biocomposites for various biomedical as well as agricultural applications. Next part of the discussion emphasizes on conducting polymer composite mainly on carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composite because of continuous interest in the use of polymers (conjugate) for fabrication of numerous light and/or foldable electronic devices and they are also extremely promising candidates for sensor applications. It also focused on the application of polymer and polymer nanocomposites for packaging areas. The main advantages of plastics as compared with other packaging materials are that they are lightweight and low cost and have good processability, high transparency and clarity, as well as good barrier properties with respect to water vapor, gases, and fats. Our discussion on polymer composite ends with its utility in automotive applications. Because they are lightweight and due to their property tailorability, design flexibility, and processability, polymers and polymer composites have been widely used in automotive industry to replace some heavy metallic materials.

An overview of surface modification and coating techniques for plastics is presented for changing the surface properties to meet the performance requirements in a variety of applications. Surface modification and coatings are utilized for purposes of adhesion, wettability, biocompatibility, scratch and abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, barrier properties, and more. Methods for modification include physical processes, such as surface roughening and abrading; liquid chemical processes, such as acid etching; and reactive gas chemical processes. The reactive gas chemical processes covered include corona, flame, and low-temperature plasma. Surface degradation from reactive gas exposure is presented with respect to the sources, chemical mechanisms, and methods for characterization. Coatings for plastics, including paints, functional coatings, and metallization, are summarized.

This chapter covers two major classes of polymer foams, the conventional foams formed by foaming agents and syntactic foams. The first part presents the basics of polymer foaming through the use of blowing agents including a brief introduction on blowing agents and the common foaming methods used by both laboratories and industries. Current technologies used for specialty foam fabrication are included in the discussion. The multiple roles played by nanoparticles during foam formation and the effects on the foam properties are addressed in detail for nanocomposite foams. The various factors affecting the formation of microcellular foams and the properties of microcellular foams are then discussed. Two detailed examples for high-performance polymer foams are highlighted in the article. An exceptional section is devoted to syntactic foams, covering both the processing and the mechanical behaviors. It starts with general preparation of syntactic foam in a laboratory-based environment. The discussion highlights the typical mechanical behavior as well as the change in mechanical behavior observed when the content of microspheres is changed. Details on how the content of microspheres affects the mechanical and fracture properties of syntactic foams are presented. Besides looking at various content of microspheres, the existence of various toughening mechanisms in syntactic foams and the kind of toughening strategies can be used to improve the toughness of syntactic foams are also included in the section. Finally, some of the issues concerning polymeric foams and the latest developments in the field including future trends are addressed.

Among the manufacturing methods, bulk metal formingmetal forming processes are recognized as classical methods with unique advantages for related industries. Despite many emerging technologies, these advantages have made them a hot topic in industrial applications. In this chapter, various types of bulk metal formingmetal forming processes are described. The main processes including rollingrolling, extrusionextrusion, and forgingforging with their sub-categories are covered. Particular attention is given to the metallurgical aspects of these processes such as the effect of initial blank properties and interfacial friction on the in-process material behavior. Different approximation methods for modelingmodeling of these forming processes are explained and compared. The main challenges in finite element simulationsimulation of the bulk metal formingmetal forming processes are also introduced and discussed. This chapter may serve as a good reference for forming process selection and identification for researchers, engineers, and students.

In this chapter, a review of the materials involved in the metal-forming processes and some of the processing required before forming on the materials are provided. At first the details of the materials formability definition and applications in different forming processes are discussed. Formability is one of the most important characteristics of the engineering alloys. Subsequently, information on the materials used for metal-forming tools and dies and their selection criteria are provided. These tool and die materials are categorized based on the process details and their limitation is further discussed. A brief look at the lubricants used in metal forming covers a subsequent topic in the current work and focuses on the effectiveness, characterization (friction reduction), types, and general applications as well as additives used in the lubricants. Lastly, a concise summary of the raw material preparation for forming processes is covered, with main focus on casting and heat treatment. These are the main preprocessing routes for preparing the preform in the industry. This chapter serves as a quick reference of forming process material selection for researchers, engineers, and students in the mechanical and materials engineering field.

Roll forming is cost-effective compared to other sheet metal forming processes for uniform profiles. The process has during the last 10 years developed into forming of profiles with varying cross sections and is thereby becoming more flexible. The motion of the rolls can now be controlled with respect to many axes enabling a large variation in the profiles along the formed sheet, the so-called 3D roll forming or flexible roll forming technology. The roll forming process has also advantages compared to conventional forming for high-strength materials. Furthermore, computer tools supporting the design of the process have also been developed during the last 10 years. This is quite important when designing the forming of complex profiles. The chapter describes the roll forming process, particularly from the designer’s perspective. It gives the basic understanding of the process and how it is designed. Furthermore, modern computer design and simulation tools are discussed.

Casting is a cost-effective route to make extremely complex geometry near net shape components. To reach the full potential in the cost/complex performance, it is essential to understand the whole manufacturing route. This chapter on metal casting covers the fundamental of the metallurgical aspect of melting, and casting of both ferrous and nonferrous materials is covered. This includes furnaces and melting practices. The shaping of casting is described in more detail including mold filling and solidification. An overview of pressure die casting, die casting, and disposable mold casting including both sand and ceramic molds is covered. Important constraints such as process alloy capability and ability to produce complex and sound geometries are covered as well as the first basic steps towards a sound design are covered. In the description of the route to sound castings, Campbell’s Ten Commandments are followed and discussed in detail. Last but not least, the metal alloys and their microstructure and properties are treated covering both ferrous and nonferrous alloys.

Incremental sheet metal forming (ISMF) has demonstrated its great potential to form complex three-dimensional parts without using component-specific tools against the conventional stamping operation. Forming components without component-specific tooling in ISMF provides a competitive alternative for economically and effectively fabricating low-volume functional sheet metal products; hence, it offers a valid manufacturing process to match the need of mass customization, which is regarded as the future of manufacturing. In ISMF process, sheet is clamped in a fixture/frame with an opening window on a programmable machine, and a hemispherical/spherical ended tool is programmed to move in a predefined path giving shape to the clamped sheet by progressively deforming a small region in incremental steps. Although formability in incremental forming is higher than that of conventional forming, the capability to form components with desired accuracy and surface finish without fracture becomes an important requirement for commercializing the ISMF processes. This chapter presents various configurations developed to incrementally form the sheet metal components, experimental as well as numerical methods for estimating forming limits, procedures for enhancing the accuracy, and methodologies for tool path generation.

The combined sheet and bulk forming process is a key technology for the near-net-shape forming of lightweight metal components with thin and multiwall thickness. In this forming process, bulk forming process, i.e., a compressive forming process, is applied to the sheet or plate workpiece in combination with the conventional sheet forming (stamping) process to minimize the material waste and manufacturing cost. “Spin forming” (flow forming, shear forming) as well as “combined stamping and forging” are key technologies in this type of the process.The flow forming process can reduce the wall thickness of rotating cylindrical hollow workpiece into an intended value incrementally, and shear forming can form various kinds of conical/semispherical/cup-shaped hollow components from flat disk-shaped workpiece of sheet metal. The advantages of spin forming are low cost, simple tooling, easy lubrication during forming, high flexibility in forming, and applicability to cold forming of high-strength and difficult-to-form materials. The optimization of the forming process, forming parameters, tooling design, and initial workpiece design is required for successful spin forming.The combined stamping and forging process includes the local compression of workpiece in its thickness direction for reducing the wall thickness locally in combination with some forming mode of conventional stamping of sheet metal. In this process, various kinds of thin-walled 2D/3D components with multi thicknesses, ribs, pins, and webs can be formed in near net shape from sheet workpiece of uniform thickness. The optimizations in forming sequence in multistep forming and tooling design are essential for successful forming practice.

This chapter provides an overview of powder-forming methods for ceramics and metals. Powder forming is distinct from traditional melt-forming methods in that it involves forming a component from powder and densifying it without melting, via solid state sintering. Sintering typically occurs at around 80 % of the melting point. The primary benefits of powder forming are as follows: (a) reduced forming temperature (reduced energy cost), (b) capability for engineered porosity, (c) elimination of mold component reactions caused by melt forming, and (d) suitability for mass production of small metal components and ceramics of all shapes and sizes. Almost all ceramics are manufactured by powder forming. Most metals are formed by melt casting; however, powder metallurgy has grown into a large industry. This overview begins with a review of powder characterization and powder manufacturing techniques. Powder-forming techniques are then reviewed including the two main dry-forming methods (die pressing, cold isostatic pressing) and a range of wet-forming techniques including extrusion, plastic forming, slipcasting, tapecasting, powder injection molding, direct coagulation casting, gelcasting, and thixotropic casting. The overview then discusses powder densification techniques including pressureless sintering, self-propagating high-temperature synthesis, microwave sintering, two-step sintering, hot-pressing, hot isostatic pressing, spark plasma sintering, and sinter forging. Future trends discussed include additive manufacturing (powder 3D printing), functionally graded materials, and hydrostatic shock forming.

Solid-state welding is a group of welding processes that produce sound joints at temperatures essentially below the melting point of the parent materials or without bulk melting of the parent materials. Solid-state welding processes have been widely applied in automobile, aircraft, and aerospace industries because of their enormous advantages associated with solid-state feature. The joints produced by solid-state processes are usually free of various solidification defects such as gas porosity, hot cracking, and nonmetallic inclusions, which may otherwise be present during fusion welding processes. No filler metals, flux, or shielding gas is required during solid-state welding process. The metal being joined can have mechanical properties similar to or even better than that of their parent metals due to the absence of defects and heat-affected zone in most of these processes. In addition, solid-state welding processes are also very suitable for joining dissimilar materials as their chemical compatibility, thermal expansion, and conductivity are no longer important problems. Solid-state welding, alternatively called solid-state bonding, covers a wide spectrum of processes including cold welding, forge welding, ultrasonic welding, friction welding, friction stir welding, resistance welding, diffusion bonding, and explosion welding. In these processes, bonding is achieved through deformation and diffusion at certain pressures and temperatures by using mechanical, electrical, or thermal energy. Unlike various fusion welding processes which are well known, solid-state welding is usually not well acquainted by industrial engineers. This chapter aims to give the engineers and the graduates working in relevant industries some basic knowledge in the selection of welding processes. Emphasis will be given to friction stir welding as it is a relatively new solid-state joining process and has generated great interests from various industries.

This book chapter deals with the basics of arc welding processes, heat source used for arc welding, different types of arc polarities, effect of shielding gases, and welding power sources necessary for arc welding. The fundamentals of formation of arc and arc physics were discussed. Small versions of conventional TIG, MIG, and PAW techniques are developed for high quality precision arc welding with ultralow energy input. In this chapter, different types of high precision arc welding process will be discussed. This chapter also describes the high productivity arc welding processes like twin wire gas tungsten arc cladding, plasma cladding, and laser-arc hybrid welding processes. Results showed that a significant increase in deposition rate and high productivity can be achieved with the high productivity arc welding processes.

Today, high-energy beamsHigh energy beam, such as laser and electron beams, have been increasingly adopted in the industry for welding, cladding, and additive manufacturing. Due to the high-energy density and small beam size, welding and additive manufacturing using high-energy beams show the characteristics of deep penetration, low heat input, small heat-affected zone, low thermal distortion, good dimensional accuracy and integrity, as well as ease of automation. Compared with other types of heat sources (i.e., arc and plasma), high-energy beams are more suitable for the applications requiring a precise control of heat energy for difficult-to-process materials. Other than the abovementioned characteristics, high-energy beam welding process belongs to a contactless process which provides more flexibility in new design and manufacturing. With these superior characteristics, high-energy beam welding process has been used in a wide range of industrial sectors (i.e., aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, shipyard, medical devices, etc.) and is expected to keep playing an important role in welding industry in the future.

This chapter presents the solid-state bonding technologies, in particular the thermocompression bonding and thermosonic bonding technologies, which are used to form microjoints in the electronics industry. The diffusion bonding mechanism and the key bonding conditions required to form reliable joints are presented. Moreover, the recent progresses in the thermocompression bonding and thermosonic ball-wedge bonding technologies are highlighted. Lastly, the effects of different bonding materials and their surface characteristics on the joints’ performance are also discussed.

Joining is an integral part of manufacturing. Microjoining and macrojoining have been widely used to join metallic and polymeric parts. The parts are often joined via welding. The process often involves melting the parts and adding a filler material that resolidifies to form a strong joint. The energy source to melt the parts can be a laser beam, an electron beam, friction, or ultrasound. Sometimes pressure is applied to enhance the process. Brazing and soldering are also processes commonly used in metal joining. As nanomaterials become more prevalent, nanojoining gains importance. Nanojoining facilitates the assembly of nano-sized building blocks to form practical products. It can also involve the use of nanomaterials to assist joining in bulk materials. In this chapter, the unique properties of nanomaterials owing to the extremely small dimensions and joining of nanoparticles and nanowires via laser irradiation, solder reflow, application of energetic particles such as an electron beam or current, and other methods are discussed. The use of nanomaterials that assist joining of bulk materials by reducing the joining temperature is also reviewed. The addition of nanoparticles and nanotubes can also enhance the properties of the composites formed.

This chapter introduces the key functions of solder joints and the various soldering processes. The evolution from leaded to lead-free solder materials is reported. Furthermore, the recent developments of high-temperature solders and composite solders due to the ever demanding functional and service requirements are discussed. The properties of different solder materials and their solder joints are also presented. Finally, reliability studies of the solder materials and their solder joints are discussed in terms of mechanical behavior, temperature cycling, and drop impact.

The chapter gives a brief introduction of adhesive bonding technology. Emphasis is placed on understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of bonding. Various types of adhesives are compared, and the techniques to modify polymer surface for improving the adhesion strength are described in detail. Examples are given to show important applications of adhesive bonding technology in automotive and aerospace industries.

The process and science of machining is introduced here. Machining is a versatile process widely used in the manufacturing industry to process raw materials of various types to impart shape and finish to products. While typically used as a secondary shaping process (primary shaping being done using casting, forming, etc.), it is also often used as an all-in-one primary process for prototyping. By its very nature machining process removes unwanted material to effect the shaping and surface generation. The nature of this material separation and its consequences are discussed in this chapter. Energy is needed for such material, and some fundamental aspects of how to provide the needed energy for causing the material removal are also discussed. The reader will obtain a basic intuitive idea of why the machining processes remove material in a typical fashion generating so-called chips, and the factors that affect the quality of the shape and surface generated will be highlighted. Some basic nomenclature of the process and cutting tools are used to quantify the deformation involved in machining and show the process mechanics. Experimental techniques used to study this process and some research trends in machining are also shown towards the end of this chapter.

Machining operations are among the most versatile and accurate manufacturing processes in terms of its capability to produce diverse and complex geometric features. This chapter takes its focus on the machining processes utilizing sharp cutting tools to remove materials from the workpiece by shear deformation. The main principle of these processes is providing the relative motions between the cutting tool and the workpiece, which is accomplished through machine tools. The machine tools are discussed and categorized based on the employed cutting tools: single-point cutting tools, multipoint cutting tools, or grinding wheels. Machining centers, which have flexibilities to perform various machining operations with different cutting tools on more than one workpiece, are also discussed. Drives and controls are responsible to respectively provide and regulate the motions of the machine tool components. Thus, industrial designs and technologies of spindle drives and feed drives, as well as numerical controls, are described in this chapter. Finally, different mechanical designs, in terms of the kinematic mechanism to provide the relative motions between the tool and the workpiece, have been introduced to the manufacturing floors. Each of these designs has penetrated today’s manufacturing floor bringing certain superiority as compared to the conventional machine tools. This chapter discusses important characteristics of a few of these emerging machine tool designs, namely, industrial robots, parallel and hybrid kinematic machine tools, and reconfigurable machine tools.

Machining dynamics has been a critical academic and industrial discipline to determine a chatter-free cutting condition as well as to provide an insight into the vibration-resistant design of a machining system. This article presents the introduction, the modeling of machining dynamics in frequency and time domain, the simulation examples, and the application of machining dynamics into industries. The advantage of the frequency-domain solution is to rapidly generate stability lobes over the wide range of spindle speed and cutting depths and avoid computationally costly numerical solutions at the expense of ignoring the nonlinearities in comparison to the time-domain solutions. The time-domain model allows prediction of cutting forces, torque, and vibrations during machining, which is essential in planning the operations without overloading the tool, machine, and workpiece for a given set of cutting conditions. The time-domain simulation estimates the physics of the processes and allows the analysis of time-varying parameters, by incorporating the nonlinearities caused by material behavior, and tool geometry variations along the cutting edge. Both models can provide a map of chatter-free cutting conditions and a fundamental guide for process planners. Engineers can use the simulations to perform the analysis of various tool geometry, cutter-part engagement, and cutting conditions and avoid chatter vibrations. Finally, this article shows the actual application of the models into machining industries.

There are thousands of materials available for engineering applications. Machinability is an indicator of one engineering material how easy or difficult to be machined using a cutting tool to achieve an acceptable surface finish, which could be considered as a material property. Engineers are often challenged to find ways to improve machinability without harming material performance, which are much focused on the machining efficiency and productivity. However, unlike most material properties, machinability cannot be simplified into a unique work material property, but rather considering as a resultant property of the machining system which is mainly affected by work material’s physical properties, heat treatment processes, and work-hardening behavior, as well as cutting tool materials, tool geometry, machining operation type, cutting conditions, and cutting fluids. When assessing a material machinability, all other aspects of the machining system must be considered concurrently. An understanding of the interactions between tool and work materials at the tool–work interface would benefit to machining behavior and machinability. Tool material and cutting speed perhaps are the two most important parameters for engineering material machinability assessments. Materials with good machinability require little power to cut, can be cut quickly, easily obtain a good surface finish, and do not wear the cutting tool fast. Engineering materials could be developed with improved machinability or more uniform machinability through microstructure modification and chemical components adjustment. Advance developed tool materials with high thermal hardness and wear resistance would improve the material machinability.

In the modern manufacturing industry, monitoring the machining process and tool condition is becoming increasingly important in order to achieve better product quality, higher productivity, higher process automation, and lower human labor costs. This chapter introduces the fundamental technologies and state-of-the-art development for machining process monitoring. After a brief introduction of the background, in section “Measurands and Sensors,” the commonly used measurands for machining process monitoring are presented, including motor power and current, force, torque, acoustic emission, vibration, image, temperature, displacement, strain, etc. The corresponding sensors for these measurands, and the requirement for signal conditioning, are also discussed. Signal conditioning includes amplification, filtering, converting, range matching, isolation, and other processes to make sensor output suitable for data acquisition and signal processing. Knowledge of data acquisition, which is the process of sampling sensor signals and converts the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer, is provided in section “Data Acquisition.” Some key concepts such as analog-to-digital conversion, quantization, sampling rate, Nyquist sampling theorem, and aliasing are explained. Section “Signal Processing” introduces the essential signal process techniques, including the time domain analysis, frequency domain analysis, time-frequency domain analysis, and artificial intelligence approaches such as artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, etc. Detailed machining process monitoring strategies and approaches, together with some examples and case studies, are provided in section “Monitoring Strategies and Approaches,” which covers the topics of tool wear estimation, tool breakage detection, chatter detection, surface integrity, and chip monitoring.

This chapter is focused on coolant and lubrication in machining. The cutting fluids are known to aid the machining process by providing cooling action and lubrication. The functions, properties, classification, and guidelines for selection and application of the cutting fluids have been discussed in detail in this chapter. One of the key aspects of machining is the tribology of the tool-chip and tool-workpiece interfaces where the contact conditions are severe and the temperatures are very high. The contact stresses and the temperature estimates at these interfaces have been presented which could help in selecting an effective cooling/lubricationLubrication/coolingSee Cutting fluids strategy during metal cutting. The recent advances in field of cutting fluid application in machining, such as dry machining, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), and cryogenic machining, have also been covered.

Fixed abrasive machining, which was considered a finishing operation involving low rates of removal, has evolved as a major competitor to cutting. As the primary fixed abrasive machining means, the borders between grinding and other operations such as superfinishing, lapping, polishing, and flat honing are no longer distinct. Machining with grinding wheels extends from high-removal-rate processes to the domains of ultrahigh accuracy and superfinishing. This chapter presents the fixed abrasive machining technology in fundamental and application terms. The topics cover a range of fixed abrasive machining process with grinding wheels, grinding parameters, and application technology in grinding ductile and brittle materials. The aim is to present a unified approach to machining with grinding wheels that will be useful in solving new grinding problems of the future. It should be of value to engineers and technicians involved in solving problems in industry and to those doing research on machining with fixed abrasive machining in universities and research organizations.

Loose abrasive machining is one of the processes, which contributes to improving precision, such as surface roughness and form accuracy of manufactured components. To date, numerous process principles have been developed to materialize the loose abrasive machining process in different ways. These developments have been made in response to the changing needs of the commercial market and to the improvement of the quality of products. This chapter provides introductions of processes for ultrasmooth surface, complex geometry, and mass finishing as well as the latest discussions and findings about ultrasonic machining.

As a result of the current trend toward products miniaturization, there is a demand for development in micro-manufacturing technologies in order to have better quality products, and cheaper, more efficient, and effective processes. Miniaturized products and components in the range from a few hundred micrometers to a few micrometers size are becoming common and widely used in daily human life. The micro-products and micro-components are used in many industries especially related with micro-electromechanical, aerospace, medical, environment, biomedical and biochemical industries, and also in the field of chemistry. Many manufacturing methods have been developed to produce these micro-sized products, namely micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) based processes such as dry etching, lithography, electroplating, ultraviolet - lithographiegalvanoformung abformung (UV-LiGA), non-conventional based micro-machining such as micro- electron discharge machining (EDM), and mechanical micro-machining. This chapter discusses mechanical micro-machiningMicro-machining especially challenges related with this process. Some main challenges are discussed in this chapter such as size effect, microstructures of the materials, surface quality, burr formation, and micro-tools performance. Some solutions are offered in order to solve these challenges.

Advanced engineering materials, including inter alia fiber-reinforced composites, super alloys, and ceramics, offer superior thermal, physical, chemical, and mechanical properties in the form of better strength, higher weight-to-volume ratio, improved corrosion, and wear resistance, to name a few. These properties have permitted the design of products with better properties, but they have also made these advanced materials difficult to machine by conventional machining processes thus making them unsuitable and uneconomical. Complex 3-D forms, tight tolerances, acute surface finishes, and stringent design constraints have necessitated research of new machining methods capable of processing the difficult-to-machine advanced materials economically and accurately. The basic idea behind a hybrid machining process is the synergistic combination of constituent machining processes in order to overcome their individual shortcomings and achieve effective material removal. This chapter has summarized some important aspects of the literature on hybrid machining processes. Machining processes in general are categorized into mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrochemical processes based on their dominant material removal mechanism. Working principles and mechanisms material removal of existing hybrid processes and their capabilities have been discussed. It is noted that the complex physicochemical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical interactions associated with hybrid machining processes are yet to be fully understood, and there exists a knowledge gap due to the unresolved issues.

Machining is a controlled material removal process and finds its application in a variety of industrial sectors such as automobile, aerospace, and defense. Similar to many other manufacturing processes, machining bears significant environmental impacts in terms of energy/resource consumption, airborne emissions, wastewater discharge, and solid wastes along with occupational health risks. Most of these issues are due to the use of cutting fluids, which are traditionally formulated with petroleum-derived compounds with high ecotoxicity and low biodegradability. Exposure to these chemicals, along with growth of microorganisms and biocides used for microbial control, could lead to respiratory irritation, asthma, pneumonia, dermatitis, and even cancer. To address these concerns, extensive effort has been put forth to (1) extend the cutting fluid life span by removing particulates, free oils, and other contaminants via separation and filtration, (2) reformulate traditional petroleum-based fluids with vegetable oils and bio-based ingredients for lower toxicity and higher biodegradability, and (3) reduce or even eliminate the reliance on cutting fluids during machining through dry machining and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) techniques. Apart from these technology developments, machining process parameters can be optimized for reduced environmental impacts, especially energy consumption and carbon footprint. Process optimization approaches require the development of models and equations to correlate process parameters with process inputs and outputs. Given the current status in the field, opportunities exist in designing new bio-based, microfiltration-compatible formulations using industrial by-products, optimizing minimum MQL system configuration, advancing cutting tool insert materials and lubricants for MQL, and developing high-energy efficiency machine tools.

Simulation of machining using finite element analysis is widely practiced now, using special purpose as well as general purpose commercial software packages. While simulations cannot be guaranteed to quantitatively reproduce all the outputs of actual machining operations, appropriately designed simulations can easily predict trends correctly and lead to improved understanding of particular features of a process that is being studied. This has led to many valuable insights about different machining processes. Various challenges remain to be overcome before simulation based design of machining processes can be routinely used by industry.

Virtual machiningVirtual machining simulates NC code to discover errors, without a time consuming trial run or online debugging on real machine tool. Since machining is a material removal process that will deform the workpiece geometry with cutting, the traditional rigid geometrical model could not be used to describe the in-process status of workpiece, which changes shape continually. The evolution of deformable workpiece model from the 2D sections to 3D representations revolutionized not only the machining industry, but also pioneered the digital manufacturing age with virtual manufacturing. This chapter traces back the history of CNC simulation, analysis of the different CNC machining models, tested with application examples, and lists different CNC verification industry applications for the last 30 years. Working towards a vision of pervasive modelling and simulation, a unified voxel-based in-process geometry model for multiple-machining and 3D printing simulations is discussed with industrial applications of composite material plating simulation. The virtual machine tool, which includes material removal animation and machine kinetic movement, can be controlled with a virtual CNC control panel and equipped with virtual jigs and inspection tools, such as dial indicator and wiggler, for immersive training of a young machinist. Towards a competitive sustainable manufacturing future, pervasive applications of virtual machining are not only technologically possible, but also make business sense, in this high material and energy cost world.

Tolerance charting is one of the important technologies used in process planning to develop the mean sizes and tolerances of the working dimensions for a new manufacturing process, or to analyze a set of existing dimensions and tolerances to determine if the component can be made to meet the blueprint specification. In this paper a computer-aided angular tolerance charting system is implemented, which is mainly based on the mathematical models of the algebraic method for both square shouldered and angular features. A surface changing algorithm is applied to calculate the working dimensions. The process tolerance allocation is carried out with a discrete interval cost–tolerance model and a multi-choice knapsack model. With a genetic algorithm, an optimal or a near-optimal solution of tolerance allocation is achieved consequently. The implementation of such a computer-aided angular tolerance charting system is presented from the viewpoint of software engineering. The data structures for blueprint information, operation information, and tolerance charts are designed. The functions of the angular tolerance charting system are described. The prototype of the system is analyzed in detail.

Nanomanufacturing utilizes value-added processes to control materials structures, components, devices, and systems at the nanoscale for reproducible, commercial-scale production. It is the essential bridge between the discoveries of nanoscience and real-world nanotechnology products. In recent years, ion beam technology has found wide applications in nano precision or nanoscale manufacturing. Ion beam nanomanufacturing (IBNM) technologies mainly consist of four approaches: ion-induced imaging, ion milling removal, ion-induced deposition, and ion implantation or modification, which are usually performed under a stream of accelerated ions by electrical means. Versatile materials can be processed by IBNM, such as diamond, metals, thin films, polymers, and semiconductors.

Ion-beam manufacturing is developing toward nanoaccuracy and nanoscale. In this regard, the concept and working principle of ion-beam manufacturing in nanoaccuracy and nanoscale are presented in this chapter. The key techniques for ion-beam manufacturing are discussed with an emphasis on their capabilities in the fabrication of micro-/nano-features. The corresponding typical applications involved in ion-beam manufacturing are provided. The recent developments in ion-beam-related instruments are given as well. Finally, the future trends for ion-beam manufacturing are predicted.

The understanding of the physics and mechanism and the ability of imaging, manipulation as well as fabrication of devices and systems at nanometer scale is undoubtedly the frontier of today’s science and technology. The momentum of current research and industrial progress calls for continuous development of new state-of-the-art tools. The interdisciplinary fields of material science, physics, biology, mechanics, and electronics clearly perpetually seek superpower facilities that persist integrated functions to conduct operation as well as to see the nano-world. The ion beam (IB) technology is one of them that can meet the demands of today’s science and technology. In this chapter, we present a basic introduction of the ion beam instruments, which are classified into two catalogs that based on focused ion beams and broad beams. In particular, the ion sources, ion optics, and some most advanced focused ion beam facilities are discussed followed by the brief introduction of broad beam instruments for nanofabrication, including the ion beam etching, deposition, and implantation systems.

In deterministic figuring process, it is critical to guarantee high stability of the removal function as well as the accuracy of the dwell-time solution, which directly influences the convergence of the figuring process. As an ultraprecision optical machining technique, ion beam figuringIon beam figuring (IBF) has unique features, such as a highly controllable, stable, and noncontact material removal process, atomic scale material removal capability, etc., well to satisfy this requirement. Currently, IBF is widely used to machine ultraprecision optical elements which is used in lithography, space observation, and so on. This chapter has three sections to describe the IBF technology. Some important research results, summaries, and applications come from our research group. The fundamental theory of IBF is introduced firstly, which includes its principles, its distinctive performances and advantages, the current status and future of IBF, etc. The main content of this chapter is to discuss the key technology of IBF, such as material removal function modeling, contouring algorithm, analysis of correcting ability, optimum material removal of IBF, realization of IBF technique, and so on. In the third section, the challenges of IBF technical development and its new applications are also discussed in detail. They are (1) high-gradient optical surface figuring by IBF, (2) high thermal expansion and crystal optics figuring by IBF, and (3) supersmooth surface figuring and micro-roughness evolution. Finally, some conclusions and suggestions are summed.

Focused ion beam has become an increasingly popular tool for the manufacturing of various types of micro-/nanostructures and devices for different applications. In this chapter, the recent developments of the FIB technologies in the micro/nano manufacturing are presented in details. FIB technologies mainly involve four main approaches: imaging, milling, ion-induced deposition, and implantation. The working principle and key techniques underlying the four approaches are introduced with an emphasis on their abilities in micro-/nanofabrications. The application fields involving using the FIB micro-/nanofabrication technologies are also presented, such as micro optical elements, plasmonic lenses, etc. Concluding remarks and outlook of the future research on the FIB technologies in micro/nano manufacturing are provided at the end of the chapter.

Single-crystal materials are widely used in optics and electronics field and are essential in condensed matter physics and materials science researches. However, the hard and brittle nature of the materials prevents it from manufacturing intricate features and optical quality surfaces. Nanometric cutting assisted with ion implantation surface modification method reduces the fracture and tool wear during machining by improving the surface mechanical properties. The mechanism, techniques, and applications of this method are specifically explained in the chapter.

With the trends towards miniaturization, micro-systems, sophisticated devices, and miniaturized three-dimensional (3D) structures are in great demands, which stimulate the development of micro-/nano-manufacturing technologies. Micro-/nano-cutting is one of the most important methods in micro-/nano-manufacturing and it is capable of fabricating microstructures on various materials. However, research and development of the micro-cutting tools largely determined the progress of micro-/nano-cutting technologies and their applications. As a novel fabrication technology, focused ion beam (FIB) direct writing is capable of fabricating the microtools with specific tool profile and nanometric cutting edge. In this chapter, various efforts to fabricate geometrically complex and sharp microtools are described. The fabrication techniques and their performance and applications are discussed. The characteristics of the FIB related to its material processing rates and surface morphologies are introduced. Furthermore, the machining technique and applications using microtools are discussed and their future developments on microtool fabrication by FIB are provided as well.

Maskless fabrication methods for nanogap electrodes using sputter etching with a Ga focused ion beam (FIB) are presented. These methods are based on the in situ monitoring of the etching steps by measuring the current through patterned electrode films. The etching steps were terminated electrically at a predetermined current level. In the present experiment, a 30-keV Ga FIB with a beam size of ~12 nm was irradiated on double-layered films consisting of a 10–30-nm-thick Au top electrode layer and a 1–2-nm-thick Ti bottom adhesion layer to form nanowires and nanogaps. Electrode gaps that were much narrower than the beam size could be reproducibly fabricated using the presented method. The controllability of the fabrication steps was significantly improved by using triple-layered films consisting of a thin Ti top layer, Au electrode, and a bottom Ti adhesion layer. The minimum gap width achieved was ~3 nm, and the fabrication yield reached ~90 % for ~3–6-nm wide gaps. Most of the fabricated nanogap electrodes showed high insulating resistances, ranging from 1 GΩ to 1 TΩ. The applicability of the fabricated nanogap electrodes to electron transport studies of nanometer-sized objects was examined using electrical measurements of Au colloidal nanoparticles.

Atmospheric-pressure plasmaAtmospheric-pressure plasma manufacturing is a very promising technique fabricate optical components and substrates for electronic devices with high form accuracy and high efficiency. The thickness correction of SOI and quartz crystal wafers by numerically controlled atmospheric-pressure plasma etching, which named numerically controlled plasma chemical vaporization machining (NC-PCVM), enabled us to obtain thickness uniformity with nanometer-level accuracy without introducing subsurface electronic defects. A numerically controlled sacrificial oxidation process using a multielectrode array system demonstrated its potential for realizing the high-throughput thickness correction of SOI wafers. A 4H-SiC (0001) surface, which is a difficult-to-machine material because of its hardness and chemical inertness, was processed by plasma-assisted dry polishing using a CeO₂ abrasive, and an atomically smooth step and terrace structure without lattice strain was obtained.

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a removal process which exploits melting and evaporating of workpiece materials caused by pulse discharges which are ignited several thousands to tens of thousands times per second in the small gap between the tool electrode and workpiece. The advantage is that electrically conductive materials can be machined very precisely into complicated shapes independent of their hardness. Hence, EDM is preferably used in die and mold making, aeroengine manufacturing, and micro-hole drilling for ink jet and fuel nozzles, where complicated shapes in hard materials and with high precision have to be machined. This chapter first describes the principle of EDM. Then, the removal mechanism due to single pulse discharge is explained in details from the thermophysical aspects, followed by the clarification of the gap phenomena in consecutive pulse discharges. Thus, the machining characteristics of EDM are understood theoretically based on the fundamental insight into the phenomena.

Electronics, optics, mechanics, and opto-mechatronics, which is the combination of the first three technologies, have been developed during this half century and created high-performance and multifunctional devices/systems through research, development, and application of various functional materials such as semiconductors, dielectric materials, magnetic materials, ceramics, polymers, and glasses. To utilize the unique characteristics of each functional material, which is sometimes used as an active layer and sometimes as a substrate for high-quality epitaxy, it is necessary to machine the material into a desired shape and dimension with high precision, quality, and efficiency. In addition, as seen in the case of a magnetic head slider of a hard disk drive, the high functional parts are required strictly to maintain their relationships and functions for either contact or noncontact configurations. It is often the case that the fabrication of high-performance parts requires a design especially considering the interface of moving parts and their ambient. Among the machining processes of functional materials, the ultra-high precision polishingUltra-high precision polishing, which is the most important finishing step, directly determines the performance of devices.This chapter reviews the recent trend of LSI devices from the viewpoint of machining process followed by the outline of chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP)Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) and chemical-mechanical machining process (CMmP). It also presents the contribution of CMP technology in device processes including a personal opinion of the field.

Laser machining belongs in the large family of material removing or machining processes. It is one of the most widely used thermal energy-based noncontact-type advanced machining processes. Laser beams can be used in many industrial applications, including machining, whereby it constitutes an alternative to traditional material removal techniques and can be used for the processing of a variety of materials, namely, metals, ceramics, glass, plastics, and composites. Laser machining is characterized by a number of advantages such as the absence of tool wear, tool breakage, chatter, machine deflection, and mechanically induced material damage, phenomena that are usually associated with traditional machining processes. However, as it is the case with all manufacturing processes, it is the optimum operating parameters that have to be determined. In the present chapter, the state of the art on the laser machining is being presented.

Ultrasonic machining (USM) is a nontraditional mechanical machining process and can be used in many applications. This chapter presents USM and rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM), including definitions, machine elements, input variables and their effects, applications, and advantages and disadvantages. In addition, ultrasonic vibration-assisted (UV-A) machining processes will also be introduced. These processes include UV-A turning, UV-A drilling, UV-A milling, UV-A grinding, UV-A electrical discharged machining (EDM), and UV-A laser beam machining (LBM). The machining principles, input variables, and major features for each process will be discussed.

This chapter presents the waterjet as a tool for several processes, applications, and industries. To form a waterjet, the water must be pressurized to ultrahigh pressures (UHP), reaching 650 MPa, and then released across a small size orifice (~0.25 mm). A high-velocity jet is formed with capabilities of cutting soft materials such as plastics, leather, carpets, and fabrics. When abrasives, such as garnet, are added to the waterjet, an abrasive waterjet (AWJ) is formed. This AWJ is capable of cutting any material including metal, composite, glass, and ceramics. Also briefly discussed in this chapter are other types of cutting jets such as fan jets, cryogenic, and slurry jets.The waterjet system platforms are discussed in this chapter with focus on the UHP platform including the UHP pumps and plumbing. The working principles of the intensifier and direct drive pumps are presented. The cutting platform is presented to include the cutting heads and jet formation along with several hydraulic parameter relationships considering the water compressibility effect. Also discussed is the effect of waterjet orifice upstream conditions on forming coherent waterjets with higher power densities and thus more efficient cutting performance. Mixing abrasives with a waterjet occurs in a mixing tube which must be of optimal length and diameter to produce coherent and efficient AWJ.The cutting trends and attributes of an AWJ are presented with focus on achieving accurate results using automatic kerf taper compensation. Several applications are also presented in this chapter addressing cutting, drilling, turning, and milling along with predictive models for these applications. The versatility of the AWJ process was demonstrated for machining complex 3D parts.

There are three methods, namely, physical, chemical, and biological, that can be used for machining of metals. The physical and chemical methods have been widely applied. These processes require mechanical, thermal, electrical, or chemical energy to be concentrated at the machining point. Such machining methods could cause damage to metallurgical properties of the workpiece. MachiningBiomachining processes that use microorganisms to remove metal from a workpiece is known as process of biological machining (biomachining). Until recently, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (At. ferrooxidans) and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (At. thiooxidans) were the microorganisms used mostly for machining of metals in various studies. Along with these microorganisms, Staphylococcus sp. and Aspergillus niger (A. niger) were also used in biological machining. The process of biological machining is advantageous over physical and chemical methods. In biological machining, microorganisms are used which are easily available. These microorganisms can be produced continuously with low-energy consumption. Moreover, because metabolic processes of microorganisms are utilized, no damage or heat-affected zone is generated in the machined workpiece. Thus, a use of microorganisms for the micromachining of metals opens up the possibility of biological machining as an alternative to conventional metal processing methods. In addition, it is easy to control metabolic activities of microorganisms. Hence, it is possible to manufacture the machined part with desired surface finish.

Mechanism is made up of links and kinematic pair joints which move in the three-dimensional space. Many physical objects are considered as rigid bodies for the convenience of theoretical analysis. For rigid body motions, the representations of rigid body rotation have a wide range of approaches including the representations from the directional cosine matrix to the exponential coordinates. The kinematics of rigid body is the motion analysis without considering any external forces acting on a rigid body, which is actually the foundation of the dynamics of rigid bodies. This chapter firstly presents the representation method of the position and orientation of rigid bodies using both the algebraic and the geometric methods. Then, an example of a SCARA robot is given to show the applications of the basic theoretical tools for rigid body motions. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the basic mathematical tools and the main results for the kinematics of rigid body though many objects may have elastic deformation in practical engineering problems.

This article deals with the kinematics of serial manipulators. The serial manipulators are assumed to be rigid and are modeled using the well-known Denavit-Hartenberg parameters. Two well-known problems in serial manipulator kinematics, namely, the direct and inverse problems, are discussed, and several examples are presented. The important concept of the workspace of a serial manipulator and the approaches to determine the workspace are also discussed.

Robotic manipulators are mechanisms that are used to transmit motions and forces. Their kinematic and static properties are thus basic characteristics that must be analyzed when controlling them but also within the design phase. Such kinematic properties are the transmission of joint rates to the end-effector velocities. The dual property is the transformation of end-effector forces to joint forces. This requires adequate modeling of the manipulators, where serial and parallel manipulators must be distinguished. Special situations where these transformation properties change drastically are so-called singularities.In this chapter, the kinematic modeling is reviewed making use of recursive frame transformation. The velocity and force transformation relation is derived and explained for several manipulators, serial as well as parallel manipulators. The phenomenon of singularities is discussed, and the conditions for the existence of singularities are presented.The motion planning and control requires the solution of the inverse kinematic problem. This is also discussed in this paper. In particular, kinematic redundancy and redundant actuation are introduced, and the inverse problem discussed.

This book chapter is about fundamentals of manipulator dynamics and their applications. Two approaches of manipulator dynamics, namely, recursive Newton-Euler approach and the Lagrange equations, are introduced and discussed. Examples are included to demonstrate their application in manipulator dynamics simulations and analysis. This book chapter can provide basic understanding on manipulator dynamics, which is applicable to manipulators, including serial and parallel manipulators.

Trajectory planning consists in finding a time series of successive joint angles that allows moving a robot from a starting configuration towards a goal configuration, in order to achieve a task, such as grabbing an object from a conveyor belt and placing it on a shelf. This trajectory must respect given constraints: for instance, the robot should not collide with the environment; the joint angles, velocities, accelerations, or torques should be within specified limits, etc. Next, if several trajectories are possible, one should choose the one that optimizes a certain objective, such as the trajectory execution time or energy consumption. This chapter reviews methods to plan trajectories with constraints and optimization objectives relevant to industrial robot manipulators.

Robot manipulators have been widely used in industrial automation. In many modern robot control applications, sensory information such as visual feedback is used to improve positioning accuracy and robustness to uncertainty. This chapter introduces basic concepts and design methods that are employed for motion control of robot manipulators with uncertainty. The chapter covers both basic methods in joint-space control and advance topics in sensory task-space control.

Robotic force control refers to the control and programmable specification of the interaction forces between a robot end effector and the work object, where either the end effector or the work object is attached to the robot manipulator. A rudimentary approach is to consider the joint torques and controlled variables and then to compute those torques such that a presumably rigid manipulator executes the desired forces. In practice, however, manipulators are not rigid, joint torques are accomplished from servo-controlled motors via joint transmissions with nonlinear dynamics, and the control structure has to obey stakeholder aspects in industry. Based on algorithmic insights and experiences from industrial applications, the subject matter of force control is explained with core scientific approaches as the starting point, then extending the descriptions such that the industrial aspects are covered via established principles for joint servo control.

The present work aims at providing a wide view of the actuators used in automation and robotics. The idea was to describe most of the actuation solutions without entering too deep into details, offering a general panorama of the trends that are followed in robotics to address several problems. Due to their large diffusion, electromechanical actuators will be discussed extensively, covering several topics from constructive specifications to elementary control problems. This chapter starts with an introduction on descriptive scheme of an actuation stage. Control blocks and feedback types are illustrated to offer to the reader the possibility of identifying the different structures composing electronic and mechanical counterparts. Working principles for actuations are then described and reported to classify the different technological approaches. AC and DC motors are presented and illustrated. Dynamics of DC motor is discussed in details and problems related to the presence of reduction stage and load are reported. Introduction on compliant actuation is also included due to the emerging field in robotics for human machine interaction. Series elastic and variable stiffness actuation solutions are mentioned. Piezoelectric effect and the widely used constructive solutions are depicted highlighting the obtained specifications with the different architectures of piezoelectric elements. Shape memory alloys and polymeric actuator are also introduced highlighting their dynamic behavior and the most famous applications in the robotic field.

Industrial robotic manipulators have excellent repeatability. However, accuracy is significantly poorer due to the numerous error sources in the robot work cell. A literature survey on recent calibration and compensation methods is presented as well as an overview of existing commercially available solutions. Subsequently, two methods to improve robot work cell accuracy are proposed to illustrate the concepts behind calibration and error compensation. The first method is a model-based calibration approach, where the end-effector poses and corresponding joint angles are measured and used to improve the kinematic model of the robot. The second method is a non-model-based compensation approach where sensor information is used to establish the relative pose of the work object and tool frames at discrete locations. Following this, a robot accuracy enhancement framework is proposed in which both techniques are integrated for an industrial robotic work cell where the strengths of one method are used to compensate for the inherent weaknesses of the other. Specifically, the non-model-based compensation approach improves the robot accuracy locally at the point of compensation, accounting for unmodeled effects which cannot be compensated by the model-based calibration approach, while calibration improves the nominal robot kinematic model extending the compensation effects to a larger working envelope.

Grippers and end effectors are devices through which the robot interacts with the environment around it. This chapter introduces basic concepts, mechanisms, and actuation of grippers used in industrial applications. The purpose is to provide readers with guidelines on design and selection of suitable grippers for their particular applications.

Although noncontact-type operations, such as pick-and-place or spot welding, are still commonly being used nowadays, there is an increasing interest on developing and applying “compliant motion” (i.e., motion and force) control on industrial robots for contact-type operations. For these operations, the required robot motion can be complex depending on the workpiece geometry. As a result, realizing these tasks using online programming methods is usually inadequate in terms of productivity in practice. The focus of this chapter is on the simulation and off-line programming process for contact-type operations, where some level of interaction between the robot and the workpiece/environment are required. Due to this interaction, some additional issues arise during the programming process. Solutions for these problems will be brought up, and readers can refer to the cited references for detailed discussions. A case study on robotized surface grinding systems based on the experience on industrial projects will also be presented to further assist readers on the actual implementation.

Parallel robot (PR) is a mechanical system that utilized multiple computer-controlled limbs to support one common platform or end effector. Comparing to a serial robot, a PR generally has higher precision and dynamic performance and, therefore, can be applied to many applications. The PR research has attracted a lot of attention in the last three decades, but there are still many challenging issues to be solved before achieving PRs’ full potential. This chapter introduces the state-of-the-art PRs in the aspects of synthesis, design, analysis, and control. The future directions will also be discussed at the end.

Modularity is an important design concept in engineering to cope with complex systems. For robots used in the industrial environment, the complexity resides in the robot system as well as the tasks given to the robot. This chapter presents an up-to-date development in modular reconfigurable robots for the industry based on modular design principles. The scopes of the chapter cover the definition and classifications of modular robots; past and present research efforts in modular reconfigurable robots for the industry; basic modular design method including mechanical and interface issues; modular robot representation schemes for classifications and modeling; automatic model-generation techniques, kinematics, dynamics, and calibration; task-based configuration optimization; modular robot software; and a demonstration workcell based on reconfigurable modular robot for adaptability. In the concluding section, future perspective of modular robots for industrial applications is discussed.

Cable-driven robots (CDRs) are a special class of parallel mechanisms in which the end-effector is actuated by cables, instead of rigid-linked actuators. They are characterized by lightweight structures with low moving inertia and large workspace, due to the location of the cable winching actuators at the fixed base of the structure, and thereby reducing the mass and inertia of the moving platform. CDRs also possess an intrinsically safe feature due to the cables’ flexibility, which allows CDRs to provide safe manipulation in close proximity to their human counterparts. This chapter will highlight the various research endeavors in the performance analysis of CDRs such as force-closure analysis, stiffness analysis, workspace analysis, and cable tension planning. Several case studies will also be presented to serve as illustrations on the application of the proposed performance analysis tools.

Compliant manipulators are advanced robotic systems articulated by the flexure joints to deliver highly repeatable motion. Using the advantage of elastic deflection, these flexure joints overcome the limitations of conventional bearing-based joints such as dry friction, backlash, and wear and tear. Together with high-resolution positioning actuators and encoders, the compliant manipulators are suitable ideal candidates for micro-/nanoscale positioning tasks. This chapter presents the relevant knowledge of several fundamental topics associated with this advanced technology. After reviewing its evolution and applications, the principal of mechanics is used to explain the limitations of these manipulators. Subsequent topic covers various theoretical modeling approaches that are generally used to predict the deflection stiffness of flexure joints and stiffness characteristics of compliant manipulators. Next, various fundamental design concepts for synthesizing the compliant mechanism will be introduced and several examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of these concepts. The topic on actuation, sensing, and control summarizes the types of high-resolution actuators and sensors which the compliant manipulators use to achieve high-precision positioning performance. Performance trade-offs between various actuators and among different sensors are discussed in detail. With this relevant knowledge, this chapter serves as a guide and reference for designing, analyzing, and developing a compliant manipulator.

This chapter gives an overview to the state-of-art technology of autonomous mobile robots and focuses more specifically on autonomous indoor vehicles (AIVs) for the purpose of being more relevant to the manufacturing and industrial automation applications. Among the various locomotion designs, this chapter only introduces wheeled AIVs as wheeled platforms are predominant in the current commercially available AIVs. Four key research areas of wheeled AIVs, (1) design and modeling, (2) motion control, (3) sensing, (4) navigation, are reviewed in detail. The major AIV suppliers along with their key AIV products are then surveyed. The chapter ends with concluding remarks and a prediction of the trends of future AIV development.

At the present time, industrial robots for assembly tasks only constitute a small portion of the annual robot sales. One of the main reasons is that it is difficult for conventional industrial robots to adapt to the complicity and flexibility of assembly manufacturing processes. Therefore, intelligent industrial robotic systems are attracting more and more attention. This chapter discusses robotic assembly techniques that perform assembly tasks with part geometric variations, part location variations and/or fixture errors. Different assembly tasks were implemented to demonstrate different techniques. For complex assembly processes, assembly parameters are very critical for assembly cycle time and First Time Through (FTT) rate. Hence the exploration of optimal parameters to minimize the cycle time and maximize the FTT rate has to be discussed. The Design-of-Experiment (DOE) method is adopted to identify the optimal parameters and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DOE method. Since the proposed techniques were tested using real industrial assembly processes, they are ready for industrial implementation.

Robotic welding is continued to be one of the most popular applications of robots. Traditionally, spot welding process has been the biggest use of robots especially in the automotive industry. As the robot becomes cheaper and easier to program, there are increasing implementations of robotic welding systems in many other industries such as shipbuilding, offshore, construction, and job shops. This chapter gives an overview of the types of robotic welding systems and their key components. It focuses on the arc welding processes which have been dominantly used in the various industries. The critical features of the robotic welding system for maximizing the welding quality, operational flexibility and productivity are discussed. These features are in the robot configurations, sensing, programming, workpiece handling, as well as welding process control.

Robotized deburring and finishing are gaining more popularity in the industry, due to the cost-effectiveness and better quality assurance compared to manual operations. This chapter provides an overview of the robotic finishing process, from selection of the robot, spindle, media, and other hardware to programming, process execution, and verification. Finally, some challenges and future research direction in this area are also highlighted.

This chapter will explain in detail the use of Stratasys, Inc., fused deposition modeling (FDM) systems in rapid manufacturing or direct digital manufacturing (DDM) to achieve targets of weight reduction, product customization, time to market, and tooling cost reduction, among others.Most people associate manufacturing with large, expensive, and, often times, polluting, factories. Utilizing FDM to produce components can be carried out in a compact, clean, and cost-effective room and, depending on the machine, typically an office environment.While mass production of plastic and metal components by injection molding or machining has been the industry standard since around 1868, modern CAD and FEA programs have led to the creation of geometries that are not possible to injection mold or machine. These geometries are appearing more in low-volume, specialized products where tooling costs become prohibitive even with ordinary geometries. This often makes DDM the best choice to meet the desired cost and performance targets of the component.The FDM technology is also very scalable. If you already have a factory that has a given number of machines and suddenly you need to make twice as many parts per month, you can quickly and even temporarily add machines in order to increase production capacity or do it globally, over a distributed network.

Additive manufacturingAdditive manufacturing is dependent on three-dimensional (3D) data to produce and inspect parts fabricated by the additive manufacturing process. Reverse engineeringReverse engineering provides methods to generate the required 3D data. 3D data is generated by making a series of measurements and reducing that information into a 3D model of some nature. In the simplest form, a scale and a computer-aided design (CAD) software program can be used to measure features and then reproduce them as a 3D CAD model. However, many objects are very complex and would require a significant number of measurements and interpretations to produce a well-defined 3D model. Manual measurement of complex items can result in inconsistent results from part to part or operator to operator. So, a more robust and repeatable method to measure parts is desirable.Metrology is the science of measurement, defined by the International Bureau of Measures as “the science of measurement, embracing both experimental and theoretical determinations at any level of uncertainty in any field of science and technology” (What is metrology? BIPM. Retrieved 01 Dec 2011. (2004)). The manufacturing industry uses the term “metrology” to describe the generic group of devices used to make measurements. There is a wide array of metrology devices and associated software to support both reverse engineering and inspection of parts. Metrology devices are selected based on the application requirements, like desired data accuracy, data density, contact measurements verses noncontact measurements, part size, part surface properties, and part access. Likewise, reverse engineering software is selected based on the application needs, like operator skills and the level of automation desired. This chapter will provide insight into fundamental considerations for metrology and software to support both inspection and reverse engineering of additive manufactured parts.

Rapid prototyping (RP) is any process utilized to quickly fabricate a physical prototype or scale model of a design directly from three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) data. The additive RP process allows designers to create a three-dimensional geometry directly from CAD data by slicing that geometry into finite layers and fabricating the prototype one layer at a time. The processes are also referred to as additive manufacturing because parts are created by adding each fabricated layer to the whole part, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing wherein material is removed in some fashion from a solid medium. There are many forms of rapid prototyping: additive manufacturing (AM), also known as three-dimensional printing (3DP or 3D printing); rapid molding or quick injection molding; rapid machining or rapid CNC; and several other technology classes. The increasing prevalence of additive technologies on the market has caused international standards organizations to begin creating common terminology and standards for these technologies. The ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies has categorized the various forms of additive manufacturing into seven groups: material extrusion, material jetting, binder jetting, sheet lamination, vat photopolymerization, powder bed fusion, and directed energy deposition. Rapid prototyping applications of additive manufacturing technology provide value to businesses in four primary ways: reducing time to market by compressing product design cycles, lowering cost of product development by exposing design problems earlier in the design cycle, improving creativity and innovation in product designs by increasing the ability to rapidly evaluate and iterate design concepts, and increasing competitive advantage by keeping design plans and data internal to the organization until later in the product development process. The most efficient product development processes can utilize multiple prototyping technologies so that the right solution is available for each step in the product design process.

Rapid tooling (RT)Rapid tooling (RT) refers to the rapid production of parts that function as a tool (primarily mold tools such as mold inserts) as opposed to being a prototype or a functional part. These tools are produced by different additive manufacturing (AM), also previously known as rapid prototyping (RP) processes such as stereolithography (SL), fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser sintering/melting (SLS/SLM), 3D printing (3DP), and electron beam melting (EBM). These AM tools are then directly used as molds or used to produce molds for conventional manufacturing, such as vacuum and investment casting.RT is generally categorized as soft or hard and direct or indirect tooling. The wide range of materials involved in tooling includes wax, wood, photopolymers, thermal polymers, metals (such as tool steels), ceramics (such as alumina and silica), and composites. In soft tooling, the molds produced directly or indirectly are destroyed after a single cast or are used for a small batch production. Single cast typically refers to investment casting where parts produced have properties identical to parts produced from conventional investment casting. Soft tooling for small batch production is typically used more for manufacturing of functional prototypes that meet the minimum properties required for application testing.In hard tooling, molds produced are usually made of metals, ceramics, or composites that can be used for high volume production. For example, metal molds and silica sand molds can be produced directly with the SLM and SLS technique respectively. Parts manufactured from these molds exhibit high quality, fine finishing, and superior if not comparable to properties of parts manufactured from conventionally produced molds. Molds with high complexity are also possible. Hence, RP displays excellent tooling and manufacturing capabilities with the development of RT.There are several benefits that are realized by RT with the most evident being cost savings. RT greatly reduces the time needed for mold-forming process and therefore increases the speed of production. This in turn reduces the time to market allowing companies to increase profits. RT also allows the ease of product customization due to its flexibility in tool design, ability to adapt to customers’ specifications, and most importantly, does not require high volume to breakeven. Conceptual designs can be further improved without incurring high costs compared to conventional manufacturing processes. These factors in RT attribute to high performance manufacturing and high quality products.

The term Additive Manufacturing (AM) refers to a range of technologies that permits automated fabrication of computer-generated 3D models. AM generally uses an approach of segmenting the digital model data into thin, precise layers that are then bonded together to create the final solid object. Already established for larger-scale, lower-resolution applications, AM can also be used to fabricate complex geometry, micron-resolution models. Some of the basic AM technologies are explored, and how they can be used to make small, precise mechanical structures is identified. How these techniques have been adapted to specifically improve this area is examined, and how they can develop in the future is discussed in the end.

Rapid prototyping or referred as layered manufacturing has been widely used in fabricating 3D components from CAD data. It has evolved from liquid, plastic, powder to metal-based systems in the past two decades. Recently, 3D printing using polymeric material has caught much attention in many industry applications including in micro- and bio-fabrication due to its advantage of layer manufacturing. In this chapter, drop-on-demand (DoD) printing will be specially discussed. Among those, the novel electrohydrodynamic jet printing (E-jetting) and piezo-actuated micro-dispensing methods will be described in details. Their applications to biomedical engineering – e.g., PCL scaffolding, HA bioactive multilayered coating, and cell printing – will be presented to demonstrate its potentials.

This chapter of the book presents a forecast development of materials surface engineering over the nearest 20 years. The proposed methodological approach and the relevant selected results of the research carried out using neural networks and contextual matrices are presented. Contextual matrices were used for the graphical presentation of a strategic position of the critical materials surface engineering technologies. Critical technologies are such having best development prospects and/or key significance in industry. For the purpose of preparing forecasts and analyses, expert studies were carried out with the e-Delphix method using information technology. The probabilistic multivariant scenarios of future events concerning materials surface engineering were created based on the data acquired from experts according to the results of computer simulations made using artificial neural networks. The original data from the experts also served to perform further investigations into the importance of the new technologies, according to the new approach, and the correctness of such approach was verified by comparing the results of heuristic research with the results of classical materials science research for 35 diverse technology groups. The strategic positions of 140 critical materials surface engineering technologies were determined by acting in consistency with the new approach and using own software and custom conceptual matrices. Hidden expert knowledge was thus converted, using the analytical tools and quantitative methods dedicated to this task, into a publicly available open knowledge. The relevant technologies were described and characterized by harmonized criteria using roadmaps and technology information sheets. The new approach described in this chapter, supported with extended information technology, is suitable for direct applications in other areas of knowledge while maintaining economically reasonable costs.

Surface engineering aims at tailoring the microstructure and/or composition of the near surface region of a component for improving surface dependent engineering properties. Conventionally, surface engineering may broadly be classified into two categories: surface modification (where the treated layer is part of the substrate) and coating (adding another layer onto the surface). Laser as a clean source of heat may be used for modification of microstructure and/or composition of the near surface region of the component by heating/melting or by deposition and alloying/cladding. Especially, because of its exponentially decaying energy distribution profile, laser enjoys a prominent position for its application in surface engineering. Laser surface engineering may be classified as surface transformation hardening, surface melting, laser surface alloying, and laser surface cladding. In this chapter, the application of laser for surface modification like laser transformation hardening, melting and homogenization of surface microstructure, changing composition by laser surface alloying for improving surface properties for structural application and laser surface cladding techniques will be discussed in detail. With a brief introduction to the individual technique, the principle of its operation will be discussed. Finally, the examples of application of laser surface engineering will be discussed in detail.

Laser manufacturing techniques belong to the most promising and efficient ones, contributing to the technological development in many industry branches and especially those in which material processing dominates. Laser treatment is characteristic of contactless operation, selectivity, and possibility of full process automation. Contactless nature of laser treatment guarantees cleanliness of the treatment location and makes also possible remote control of the laser beam through transparent protection barriers, in vacuum, gas atmosphere, or under water. It is important that one can concentrate a laser radiation beam to a very small dimension, even as small as a portion of a micrometer. This makes it viable to achieve externally big power concentration values and selective acting with the beam on carefully selected material areas, e.g., in locations hard to access, subjected to mechanical loads, etc., with no fear of the effect of the delivered heat on the adjacent areas, neighboring elements and part deformation.Following an introduction of laser fundamentals in the first part of the chapter, theoretical aspects associated with laser radiation and the structure and operating principle of lasers were discussed in the second part of the present chapter concerning laser treatment of metallic and nonmetallic materials. The third part of the work presents knowledge devoted to the most popular techniques of laser treatment of engineering materials such as hot working; remelting; laser alloying/cladding; laser hardfacing; laser-assisted chemical and physical vapor deposition (LACVD and LAPVD); laser treatment of functional materials (e.g., silicone texturization); laser cleaning, cutting, drilling, and marking; and laser micromachining. The application examples of lasers in materials engineering described in part 4 of the article are supplementing the knowledge relating to the utilization of laser techniques.

Progress in the manufacturing and improvement of the operational strength of structural elements and tools applied in the diverse areas of life is mainly achieved by the increasingly widespread use of deposition techniques of thin layers made of hard, wear-resistant ceramic materials. A wide variety of coating types presently available and coating deposition technologies have resulted from the growing demand seen in recent years for cutting edge methods of material modification and surface protection. Among the numerous techniques enhancing the life of materials, physical vapour deposition (PVD) methods now play a significant role in the industrial practice.This chapter presents physical vapour deposition (PVD) methods for fabricating hard coatings on engineering materials and in particular: deposition methods, PVD coatings synthesis and substrate surface preparation, and also the applications of PVD coatings, as well as an overview of research methods and coating properties.

This chapter presents CVD technology (chemical vapor deposition), used principally for the formation of surface layers with special structure and properties on engineering and biomedical materials and applied also for the fabrication of nanostructures. The main emphasis has been placed on modern CVD methods applied in many branches of industry, from automotive through electronic to medical. The following methods are discussed: high-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes, plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD), metalorganic CVD process (MOCVD), laser CVD (LCVD), hot-filament CVD (HFCVD), vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE), atomic layer deposition (ALD), as well as low-temperature CVD for the fabrication of polymer layers. The methods to produce carbon nanotubes are also disclosed. The following sections focus on the structure, properties, and the application of the selected CVD coatings such as diamond and DLC coatings, nitride, carbide, and oxide ones with high resistance to abrasion and corrosion.

Thermal spray refers to a group of coating techniques whereby droplets of molten or partially molten materials are sprayed onto a solid substrate to develop the coating. Based on the applied heat source and the process characteristics, a large number of thermal spray techniques are commercially available, enabling a wide range of materials to be coated. In thermal spray, the basic bonding mechanism is mechanical interlocking, and the bonding between splats can be improved by increasing temperature or particle velocities during particle impact. However, for coating of metallic materials or composites, high processing temperatures can increase the amount of oxides embedded in the coating and, therefore, reducing their performance for structural application. Cold spray is another solid-state spraying process in which the coating materials are not melted in the spray gun; instead, the kinetic energy of fast-traveling solid particles is converted into heat, and there is interfacial deformation upon impact with the substrate, producing a combination of mechanical interlocking and metallurgical bonding. In the present contribution, a detailed overview of the thermal spray and cold spray techniques on coating of materials is presented. Finally, the future scope of the application of thermal spray and cold spray techniques is presented.

Owing to its unique advantages of cost-effectiveness, reliability, and also the atom-by-atom replication on the given substrate surface profile, electrochemical process has been widely used for high-quality coatings. The present chapter presents a review and summary of the principles of electrochemical processes; the microstructure and composition control of metals, metal oxides, silicon, non-oxides, and conductive polymers in electrochemical process; and also their recent applications in microfabrication, energy conversation and storage, self-protection as well as drug delivery, etc.

Electrochemical deposition is one of the effective and inexpensive processes in surface coating technology. It is of great interest to produce electrochemical deposits with dense structure and good mechanical properties. The electrochemical deposited nickel and nickel–cobalt are the most common materials used in decorative coatings and micro-fabrications. In this chapter, the authors will briefly review characteristics of nickel and nickel–cobalt deposits under different electrochemical treatments and introduce two effective procedures to enhance the strength of deposits: one is to vary the applying potential and the other to alter the temperature of the electrochemical cell. Both experimental and simulation results show that pulse electrodeposition leads to higher concentration of ions at cathodic surface and better penetration ability of ions than that by direct current (DC) one. More compact and hard deposits are formed during pulse electrodeposition compared to DC one. Moreover, usually electrodeposition is difficult to perform at low temperature due to ineffective mass transfer. Through careful control of the output power to the electrochemical cell, the resulting deposit at low temperature presents higher strength than those electrodeposited at relatively high temperatures. The possible mechanism of strengthening and the corresponding electrochemical phenomena are also introduced.

This overview article will deal with a special application of the sputtering process, namely, the “magnetron sputtering technique.” In order to understand the underlying physical processes behind magnetron sputtering, a brief recapitulation of the sputtering phenomena will be given as a primary contribution of this article. Furthermore, the special concept of magnetron sputtering, from both a physical and a technical point of view, will be presented followed by some industrial applications, practical aspects, comparison with other PVD (“physical vapor deposition”) techniques, advantages and disadvantages, and finally some of the latest developments in the field, including future trends.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD)Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a thin-film growth technology that is capable of depositing conformal, pinhole-free, and uniform films on high-aspect-ratio surfaces with atomic precision. It is similar to chemical vapor deposition (CVD), but compared to CVD, it usually produces thin films with better mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. ALD is a rapidly growing field, and it is currently introduced in the semiconductor and solar cell industries.In this chapter, the basics of chemistry and mechanism of ALD process are firstly described. ALD is then compared with other coating processes, such as CVD, physical vapor deposition (PVD), and electroless plating, to present its distinct advantages and also limitation. The elements of ALD process such as precursors, thin-film material, and substrates are also individually discussed. The evolvement of the ALD reactors, including plasma-enhanced ALD and the latest high-throughput ALD designs, is introduced. A number of existing and potential future applications of the ALD process for industry are presented at the end of the chapter.

Integration of high-quality functional thin layer of oxides on semiconductor, in particular wide-bandgap silicon carbide, is of extreme importance in order to realize near future generation of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS)-based devices for high-power, high-temperature, and/or high-radiation applications. Although nitrided SiO₂ on SiC produced acceptable results, limitations and issues have been reported. Therefore, evolution and justification of changing this type of oxide to high dielectric constant oxide (high-κ) on SiC are being reviewed. This chapter presents the current understanding of simultaneous thermal oxidation and nitridation of sputtered Zr-semiconductor interfaces as the most promising technique for achieving device-quality interfaces required for commercial applications. It is mainly focused on the technological methods of producing oxidized/nitrided Zr on SiC. An exceptional section is devoted to the recent developments of nitrided high-κ gate dielectrics on SiC. It starts with a detailed discussion of high-κ gate dielectric characteristics and the current knowledge of simultaneously oxidized and nitrided Zr film as high-κ dielectric on SiC. Via this technique, the role of N₂O gas ambient on oxidizing and nitriding Zr film on SiC, coupling with physical and electric characteristics of oxidized/nitrided Zr film on SiC, is discussed. A growth mechanism of simultaneous thermal oxidation and nitridation of Zr film on SiC is subsequently presented. Finally, the properties of oxidized/nitrided Zr thin films based on Si and SiC substrates are compared.

Magnesium and its alloys have been found to have a variety of industrial applications owning to their high strength-to-weight ratio. The strength of magnesium alloys is comparable with that of aluminum alloys or steels; however, their corrosion resistance when exposed to severe conditions is relatively weak. Surface treatments are applied to magnesium and magnesium alloy articles to enhance their corrosion resistance and appearance. This chapter covers two classes of treatment for magnesium alloy surfaces for moderate to severely corrosive environments: (1) chemical treatments and (2) anodic treatments, followed by sealing and organic coatings. Necessary cleaning procedures, including mechanical cleaning, chemical cleaning, pickling, and fluoride anodizing, are described.

This chapter presents a comprehensive review of the thermally induced stress in multilayer thin films within both the elastic and elastic–plastic deformation ranges and several approaches to determine the thermomechanical properties of thin films. The elastic analysis based on the linear strain assumption results in the closed-form solutions and approximations (for very thin films). Subsequently, the review is extended into the elastic–plastic deformed films in bilayer structures. Closed-form solutions of the maximum, average, and minimum film stresses and curvatures are discussed in details for plastically deformed films. The difference among the maximum stress, average stress, and Stoney stress in films is systematically revealed. As an example, the result of a case study reveals that the yield start point may be estimated as a linear function of temperature in the elastic–plastic deformation range.A newly developed simple approach to determine the values of five thermomechanical properties of thin films, namely, the Young’s modulus, the coefficient of thermal expansion, yield start stress, strain hardening modulus, and Poisson’s ratio, is presented in details, together with some simple and generic approaches for the characterization of thin films with nonlinear stress versus strain relationship and/or temperature-dependent material properties. In the case of very thin films, analytical solutions are available.These new approaches and solutions are applied to investigate the moduli of metallic films. The film thickness effect on the modulus of Ag films is confirmed. The critical role of a compressive stress in thin TiO₂ layer atop NiTiCu film in the reversible trench phenomenon is identified.

The remanufacturing of machinery is a process of disassembly, where parts are inspected, repaired, reconditioned or replaced, recertified, and then reassembled to “like-new” condition. In the modern manufacturing industry, remanufacturing offers the advantages of sustainable energy development, cost savings, and pollution reduction, among other benefits. Assessment of the remaining useful life (RUL)Remaining useful life (RUL) assessment of machinery is key for remanufacturing to determining what components can be shut down and when for off-line remanufacturing. Hence, the accuracy of RUL online assessment is critical to remanufacturing industry practice.This chapter first discusses the concept and technology of remanufacturing and then summarizes the modeling of online RUL assessment, with both physical and data-driven models, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. Also discussed are two new specific methods in remaining life assessment widely cited in the literature: support vector machine (SVM) method and state-space method (SSM). Two case studies of machine tooling are illustrated in detail, using examples and data from real industry applications to demonstrate RUL assessment. The chapter ends by raising, deliberating, and dispelling some practical concerns with online sensing data modeling and RUL assessment.

Previous research studies have indicated that barriers to the remanufacturing process can be traced to the initial product design stage, and these have ignited the concept of Design for RemanufacturingDesign for remanufacturing (DfRem) as a much pursued design activity. In this chapter, the definition and scope of DfRem activities are firstly introduced to provide the readers with an understanding of the topic. Next, a review on the design tools and methodologies for DfRem is presented. Five DfRem approaches have been identified and the strengths and limitations associated with each approach are analyzed. Although various tools and methodologies have been proposed for DfRem, few of them have been adopted by the industry. Therefore, a study on the factors that can help successful integration of DfRem into product development has been conducted. The identified factors are explained and organized according to the impact they have on different product development stages. Finally, future research activities and directions for DfRem are suggested for promoting the remanufacturing industry.

The service industry has become an engine of regional and global economic development, and the employment and revenue of the service industry are increasing dramatically in recent years. This chapter discusses product-service supply chain (PSSC) design by outlining the PSSC implications and focusing on the crucial elements of PSSC design. Viewing the subject from the perspective of manufacturers, several presentations are used in practice, such as the supply chain for after-sales service; maintenance, repair, and operations; and product-service systems providing. It first explains what is the PSSC and then moves on to the prominent features and the structure of the PSSC. In a general sense, PSSC design is designed toward the value of all supply chain members by configuring the service resource reasonably. From the viewpoint of supply chain designSupply chain design, five elements are elaborated in this chapter, which include the PSSC strategy, service facility location, outsourced service supplier selection, service network configuration, and process design for PSSC. The approaches for the PSSC design are reviewed, suggested, and elaborated.

This chapter presents development of enabling technologies that are able to assess the reliability of remanufactured products based on predictive modeling methods, to describe fast and accurate prediction algorithms that are able to predict condition of critical components or parts of manufactured products based on historical data. Machine health condition prediction of critical components under the situation of insufficient data, missing prior fault knowledge, and noisy measurement are studied using an enhanced online sequential learning-fuzzy neural network. Meanwhile, Weibull model-based reliability analysis is investigated in this chapter. Performance of various Weibull parameter estimation methods is compared using case studies. Results of this part of research have enabled the development of a product reliability analysis tool that is able to characterize the product failure modes, failure rate, and reliability profile.

Unlike in traditional manufacturing, remanufacturers face uncertainty in quality, quantity, and frequency of returned products, making the remanufacturingRemanufacturing processes less predictable and remanufacturing decision-making more difficult. The research on the use of embedded smart sensors in products to facilitate remanufacturing through monitoring and registering information associated with the products, e.g., their state-of-health, remaining service life, remanufacturing history, etc., has received increasingly high level of interests. This chapter first introduces the background of sensor-embedded products, including the essential parts of a typical smart sensor and product information model. Next, the current practices toward the development of embedded smart sensors in products are reviewed in detail in two aspects, namely, (1) embedding smart sensors in products and (2) representing and interpreting sensor data. A conceptual framework is presented to illustrate how sensor data gathered using smart sensors can be managed to facilitate product remanufacturing decision-making. Lastly, future research trends are given to address the challenges efficiently in using embedded smart sensors for facilitating remanufacturing processes and planning.

A special feature of remanufacturing business is the existence of large proportion of replacement customers. This is due to the fact that many durable product markets are highly saturated and customers who return their end-of-life products need to do replacement purchase. At the same time, pricing strategies have been widely adopted by remanufacturing companies to balance supply and demand. In this study, the joint decision of acquisition, trade-in, and selling price is considered. The objective is to maximize the expected profit. It is shown that a remanufacturing firm should offer higher rebates to replacement customers when this customer segment has high return quality and high price sensitivity. The optimal pricing policies under uncertain return yield rate are studied. The profitability of different pricing schemes is also investigated.

There has been a growing interest in remanufacturing during the past decade, since it offers many advantages to our economy. However, the qualification and quantification of the benefits of remanufacturing compared to original manufacturing remain confusing to us due to the difficulties of data collection in complex production processes and the lack of accurate and convinced evaluation method. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a “cradle to grave” approach for assessing industrial products and systems, which enables to estimate the cumulative environmental impacts resulting from all stages in a product life cycle. In this book, taking a diesel engine as a case study, a comprehensive LCA is conducted for remanufactured diesel engines, aiming to identify the negative impact on the environment during the whole life cycle and to analyze the potential that remanufacturing had in terms of energy savings and environment protections. In order to demonstrate the environmental benefit of remanufacturing, the environmental impacts achieved in the study are compared with a newly manufactured counterpart. The results show that remanufacturing of a diesel engine has lesser contribution to all the environmental impact categories when compared to its original manufacturing; the greatest benefit is EP which is reduced by 79 %, followed by GWP, POCP, and AP which can be reduced by 67 %, 32 %, and 32 %, respectively.

Conventionally, corporations focused on economic value creation for shareholders. However, sustainable business practices require considering sustainable value added to all stakeholders. The overall sustainable value added can be evaluated by measuring economic, environmental, and societal values created for all the stakeholders. While economic value assessment methods are commonly used and well established, there are challenges in defining and establishing methods for environmental and societal value assessment.Manufacturing is one of the key sectors for achieving economic growth. Applying the sustainable value framework in manufacturing applications requires a total product life-cycle approach that considers the four product life-cycle stages (pre-manufacturing, manufacturing, use, and post-use) and the 6R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign, and Remanufacture) approach to create sustainable value for all stakeholders through sustainable manufacturing. In order to evaluate how effectively sustainable manufacturing creates sustainable value, there is a need for a structured approach for sustainability assessment.This chapter focuses on developing a sustainability performance evaluation methodology for manufacturing through the introduction of sustainability metrics that quantify and measure sustainable value in a comprehensive manner incorporating numerous factors related to creating sustainable values in sustainable manufacturing activities. The methodology defines sustainability metrics that cover economic, environmental, and social value added for products and manufacturing processes. The methodology also presents the process of normalizing, weighting, and aggregating the measurements for the sustainability metrics to evaluate the overall product sustainability index (ProdSI) and process sustainability index (ProcSI). The application of the ProdSI and ProcSI methodologies is demonstrated by a case study to evaluate the sustainability performance of an automotive component.

This chapter introduces a method for deciding optimal options in end-of-life (EoL)End-of-life (EoL) product recoveryProduct recovery. It utilizes multiple factors on EoL product condition and EoL product recovery values for better decision making in the planning of EoL product recovery for optimal eco-performance. These factors are measurable and closely tied to the product characteristics. The merits of the method can be seen from three perspectives. Firstly, embedded information and resources of returned products are fed back to the product life cycle chain as a closed loop for continuous improvement in product design and manufacturing. Secondly, EoL product recovery options for reusability, remanufacturability, and recyclability can be optimally determined. And thirdly, it quantifies the benefits of incorporating EoL product recovery into manufacturing processes in terms of manufacturing costs, material utilization, and energy consumption. A case study on a crankshaft from a refrigerator reciprocating compressor is presented to demonstrate the merits of the method.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is one of the most significant waste products in modern societies. Disassembly is a critical step to reduce Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) waste. In the past two decades, despite disassembly has been applied to support recycling and remanufacturing of WEEE products worldwide, full disassembly of WEEE is rarely an ideal solution due to high disassembly cost. Selective disassembly, which prioritizes operations for partial disassembly according to the economic considerations, is becoming an important but still a challenging research topic in recent years. In order to address the issue effectively, in this chapter, space interference matrix is generated based on a product model to represent the space interference relationship between each component, and all feasible disassembly sequences can be obtained by analyzing the space interference matrix with a matrix analysis algorithm. Then, a particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based selective disassembly planning method embedded with customizable decision-making models is applied, which is capable to achieve optimized selective disassembly sequences for products. Finally, industrial cases on liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions are used to verify and demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the developed research.

This paper seeks to address an approach called the social network analysis method (SNAM) to evaluate the effect of resource scalability on networked manufacturing system. Considering the case of networked manufacturing mode, we have proposed a framework of SNAM for generating the collaborative networks. The collaborative networks have been obtained by transferring the input data in the form of an affiliation matrix to the UCINET and Netdraw software packages. Subsequently, we have conducted various tests to analyze the collaborative networks for finding the network structure, size, complexity and its functional properties. In this paper, a social network based greedy k-plex algorithm has been applied to evaluate the scalability effect on different data sets of networked manufacturing system. Experimental studies have been conducted and comparisons have been made to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.

Single objective job shop schedulingJob shop scheduling problem (JSSP) is a typical scheduling problem that aims to generate an optimal schedule to assign all the operations to the production equipments. JSSPs can be categorized into single objective JSSP (SOJSSP) and multiple objective JSSP (MOJSSP) based on the optimization objectives considered. SOJSSP involves generating schedules to allocate operations to different machines considering only one objective, while MOJSSP considers more than one objective in the scheduling process. SOJSSP and MOJSSP are typical NP-hard optimization problems which have significant values in real production. Intelligent Water Drops (IWD) is a new type of meta-heuristics which shows excellent ability of solving optimization problems. In this research, IWD is improved and customized to solve SOJSSP and Intelligent water drops optimizationMOJSSP problems. Experiments have been conducted, and the results show that the enhanced algorithms can solve these two types of problems better compared with current literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first research employing IWD for solving SOJSSP and MOJSSP.

The network-based manufacturing offers various advantages in current competitive atmosphere by way to reduce the short manufacturing cycle time and to maintain the production flexibility. In this paper, a multi-objective problem whose objectives are to minimize the makespan and maximize the machine utilization for generating feasible process plans of multiple jobs in the context of network-based manufacturing system has been addressed. A mobile agent-based negotiation approach is proposed to the integration of manufacturing functions in a distributed manner, and the fundamental framework to support the functionality of the approach is presented in detail. With the help of an illustrative example along with varied production, environments that include production demand fluctuations are described, and the proposed approach has been validated. Finally, the computational results are analyzed to the benefit of the manufacturer.