Managing Complexity in Manufacturing Changeovers: A Sustainable Manufacturing-Oriented Approach and the Application Case Study

Increasing manufacturing complexity continues to be one of the most significant challenges facing the manufacturing industry today. Due to these rapid changes in manufacturing systems, one of the most important factors affecting production is recognized as the frequent production setup or changeovers, consequently affecting the overall production lead times and competitiveness of the company. Developing responsive production setup and process capability is increasingly important as product ranges and varieties in manufacturing companies are growing rapidly and, at the same time, production business models are operating more towards being customer-oriented. Furthermore, although different conventional methods have been used to manage complexity in production changeovers, sustainability and competitiveness development in a manufacturing company needs to be scientifically addressed by managing manufacturing complexity. In this paper, a sustainable manufacturing-oriented approach is presented in mind of managing manufacturing changeover complexities. A case study is carried out specifically concerning changeover complexity in a pharmaceutical company, aiming at minimizing complexities in production changeover and waste, increasing plant flexibility and productivity, and ultimately the sustainable competitiveness of the company in managing manufacturing changes.

Step Ring Based 3D Path Planning via GPU Simulation for Subtractive 3D Printing

In this paper, both software model visualization with path simulation and associated machining product are produced based on the step ring based 3-axis path planning to demo model-driven graphics processing unit (GPU) feature in tool path planning and 3D image model classification by GPU simulation. Subtractive 3D printing (i.e., 3D machining) is represented as integration between 3D printing modeling and CNC machining via GPU simulated software. Path planning is applied through material surface removal visualization in high resolution and 3D path simulation via ring selective path planning based on accessibility of path through pattern selection. First, the step ring selects critical features to reconstruct computer aided design (CAD) design model as STL (stereolithography) voxel, and then local optimization is attained within interested ring area for time and energy saving of GPU volume generation as compared to global all automatic path planning with longer latency. The reconstructed CAD model comes from an original sample (GATech buzz) with 2D image information. CAD model for optimization and validation is adopted to sustain manufacturing reproduction based on system simulation feedback. To avoid collision with the produced path from retraction path, we pick adaptive ring path generation and prediction in each planning iteration, which may also minimize material removal. Moreover, we did partition analysis and g-code optimization for large scale model and high density volume data. Image classification and grid analysis based on adaptive 3D tree depth are proposed for multi-level set partition of the model to define no cutting zones. After that, accessibility map is computed based on accessibility space for rotational angular space of path orientation to compare step ring based pass planning verses global all path planning. Feature analysis via central processing unit (CPU) or GPU processor for GPU map computation contributes to high performance computing and cloud computing potential through parallel computing application of subtractive 3D printing in the future.

Modeling Evolution of Microstructures Beneath Topographically Textured Surfaces Produced Using Shear Based Material Removal

Tool chatter is envisaged as a technique to create undulations on fabricated biomedical components. Herein, a-priori designed topographies were fabricated using modulate assisted machining of oxygen free high conductivity copper. Subsequently, underpinnings of microstructure evolution in this machining process were characterized using electron back scattered diffraction based orientation imaging microscopy. These underpinnings were related to the unsteady mechanical states present during modulated assisted machining, this numerically modeled using data obtained from simpler machining configurations. In this manner, relationships between final microstructural states and the underlying mechanics were found. Finally, these results were discussed in the context of unsteady mechanics present during tool chatter, it was shown that statistically predictable microstructural outcomes result during tool chatter.

A Comparison Between Porous NiTi and Ti-6Al-4V Fixation Hardware on Bone Remodeling After a Reconstruction Surgery

The aim of this article is to investigate the effect of two different fixation hardware materials on bone remodeling after a mandibular reconstruction surgery and to restore the mandible’s function, healthy appearance, mastication, swallowing, breathing, and speech. The hypothesis is that using fixation hardware with stiffness close to that of the surrounding bone will result in a more successful healing process in the mandible bone. The finite element model includes the material properties and forces of the cancellous bone, cortical bone, ligaments, muscles, and teeth. The reconstruction surgery is modeled by including the fixation hardware and the grafted bone. In the sectioned mandible, to best mimic the geometry of the mandible, two single barrel grafts are placed at the top of each other to form a double barrel graft set. Two different materials were used as the mandibular fixation parts, stiff Ti-6Al-4V, and porous superelastic Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) alloys. A comparison of these two alloys demonstrates that using porous NiTi alloy as the fixation part results in a faster healing pace. Furthermore, the density distribution in the mandibular bone after the healing process is more similar to the normal mandible density distribution. The simulations results indicate that the porous superelastic NiTi fixation hardware transfers and distributes the existing forces on the mandible bone more favorably. The probability of stress shielding and/or stress concentration decrease. This type of fixation hardware, therefore, is more appropriate for mandible bone reconstruction surgery.

Finite Element Modeling of Selective Laser Melting 316L Stainless Steel Parts for Evaluating the Mechanical Properties

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technique in which complex parts can be fabricated directly by melting layers of powder from a CAD model. SLM has a wide range of application in biomedicine and other engineering areas and it has a series of advantages over traditional processing techniques. A large number of variables including laser power, scanning speed, scanning line spacing, layer thickness, material based input parameters, etc. have a considerable effect on SLM process materials. The interaction between these parameters is not completely studied. Limited studies on balling effect in SLM, densifications under different processing conditions, and laser re-melting, have been conducted that involved microstructural investigation. Grain boundaries are amongst the most important microstructural properties in polycrystalline materials with a significant effect on the fracture and plastic deformation. In SLM samples, in addition to the grain boundaries, the microstructure has another set of connecting surfaces between the melt pools. In this study, a computational framework is developed to model the mechanical response of SLM processed materials by considering both the grain boundaries and melt pool boundaries in the material. To this end, a 3D finite element model is developed to investigate the effect of various microstructural properties including the grains size, melt pools size, and pool connectivity on the macroscopic mechanical response of the SLM manufactured materials. A conventional microstructural model for studying polycrystalline materials is modified to incorporate the effect of connecting melt pools beside the grain boundaries. In this model, individual melt pools are approximated as overlapped cylinders each containing several grains and grain boundaries, which are modeled to be attached together by the cohesive zone method. This method has been used in modeling adhesives, bonded interfaces, gaskets, and rock fracture. A traction-separation description of the interface is used as the constitutive response of this model. Anisotropic elasticity and crystal plasticity are used as constitutive laws for the material inside the grains. For the experimental verification, stainless steel 316L flat dog bone samples are fabricated by SLM and tested in tension. During fabrication, the power of laser is constant, and the scan speed is changed to study the effect of fabrication parameters on the mechanical properties of the parts and to compare the result with the finite element model.

Effects of Laser Shock Peening on the Wear and Degradation Behaviors of Magnesium Alloys

In this study, we investigated the mechanical properties of AZ31B Mg alloy before and after laser shock peening (LSP). The hardness of the AZ31B Mg alloy increased from 57 HV to 69 HV after LSP. The yield strength increased from 128 MPa to 152 MPa. Wear resistance was significantly improved after LSP. Immersion testing showed that LSP did not significantly increase the element release and weight loss in simulated body fluid. We have demonstrated that LSP is an effective way to improve the mechanical properties of the AZ31B Mg alloy.

Ligament Flows of Exit-Pinching During Drop-on-Demand Inkjetting of Alginate Solution

Organ printing is an emerging technology for fabricating artificial tissues and organs, which are constructed layer by layer by precisely placing tissue spheroids or filaments as building blocks. These fabricated artificial organs offers a great potential as alternatives to replace the damaged human organs, providing a promising solution to solve organ donor shortage problem. Inkjetting, one of the key technologies in organ printing, has been widely developed for organ printing because of its moderate fabrication cost, good process controllability and scale-up potentials. Droplet formation process as the first step towards inkjetting 3D cellular structures needs to be studied and controlled precisely. This paper focuses on the ligament flow of exit-pinching during droplet formation process of inkjet printing. The ligament flow directions during pinch-off process of inkjet printing of a sodium alginate solution with a concentration of 0.5% (w/v) have been studied. It is found that two different types of flow directions inside a single ligament during pinch-off process may occur. At an excitation voltage of 30 V, the ligament flow has two different directions at the locations near the nozzle orifice and the jet front head: the negative z direction at the location near the nozzle orifice due to the dominant capillary effect, and the positive z direction at the location near the jet front head due to both the fluid inertial and capillary effects. On the contrary, at an excitation voltage of 70 V, the ligament flow directions are the same at the locations near the nozzle orifice and the jet front head: the positive z direction at the location near the nozzle orifice due to the sufficiently large fluid inertial effect, and the same positive z direction at the location near the jet front head due to both the fluid inertial and capillary effects. Two flow directions inside a single ligament benefit single droplet formation without satellite droplets, but the droplet trajectory will be easily affected by the airflow in the laboratory due to the small droplet velocity as well as the droplet deposition accuracy. Single flow direction inside a single ligament usually results in a long ligament due to the large fluid inertia which eventually breaks into several undesirable satellite droplets. The resulting knowledge will be beneficial for better understanding of the ligament pinch-off during droplet formation process of inkjet printing biological viscoelastic alginate bioink for 3D cellular structure fabrication as well as precise droplet controllability for good quality of fabricated 3D structures.

Fast Generation of Planar Micro-Structured Surfaces by Elliptical Vibration Texturing

Micro-structured surfaces have extensive applications in a wide array of fields, due to their improved functional performance. Existing manufacturing methods for these surfaces fall short of efficiency for volume production or are only applicable to a specific class of materials. In this paper, an innovative and highly-efficient machining method, elliptical vibration texturing (EVT), is proposed for rapid generation of micro-dimples on planar engineered surfaces. The cutting tool of the EVT process vibrates along an elliptical trajectory. The elliptical vibrations, when coupled with a high cutting velocity, impose micro-dimples onto workpiece surfaces while machining. The high productivity is achieved by adopting a newly designed tertiary motion generator which is able to deliver required elliptical vibrations at an ultrasonic frequency. The shape and distribution of the generated dimple patterns have been theoretically analyzed and predicted by a proposed simulation model. Preliminary texturing results using aluminum and brass as workpieces are given to validate the process principle and simulation model.

Characterization of Forces in High-Speed Bone Cutting and Grinding for Haptics Rendering

This study characterizes the forces in high-speed bone cutting and grinding for the use of haptic devices in surgical simulations. Unrealistic force feedback due to the lack of vibrational features is one of the most common drawbacks. Generally, the force profile can be decomposed to a mean force and a vibrational force magnitude. These forces are experimentally measured under various motions, including feed rate and tool orientation, to mimic manual operations and to understand the effects of these parameters. Change in feed rate was found to be insignificant in the overall force feedback, while the change in tool orientation showed statistically significant effects. The grinding burr and cutting burr also exhibited different forces under an identical condition. The explanation for the behavior of the forces based on the cutting and grinding conditions is discussed along with the results.

Effect of Surface Roughness and Residual Stress Induced by High Speed Milling Process on Short Crack Growth

Surface scratches and residual stresses inevitably appear on the surface of the component as a result of the machining process. The damage evolution of surface scratch due to the combined effect of cyclic loading and residual stresses will be significantly different from the case where only the cyclic loading is considered. In the damage evolution of surface scratch, the short crack growth is of great importance owing to its apparently anomalous behaviors compared with the long-crack growth. In this paper, the effect of the surface roughness and the residual stress on the short crack growth is studied. Firstly, the surface roughness and the residual stress of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy induced by the high speed milling process with various cutting speeds and feed rates are investigated with the experimental method. The maximum height roughness parameter is measured, which is regarded as the surface defect induced by the milling process. The residual stress on the specimen surface is measured with the X-ray diffraction. Results show that the surface roughness becomes higher with the increase of the feed rate. However, the influence of the cutting speed on the surface roughness is not significant. The residual stresses on the specimen surface are all in the compressive state. The residual stress is more compressive as the feed rate increases. The effects of the process parameters on the surface roughness and the residual stress are described by the fitted formulas. Then a modified model is built to characterize short fatigue crack growth behaviors with the consideration of the residual stress. This model is proved to provide a realistic treatment of the short crack growth, as reflected by comparison with experimental fatigue crack growth data of medium carbon steel and 7075-T6 aluminum alloy published in literature. The effect of surface roughness and residual stress caused by the milling process on the short crack growth is also investigated by using the proposed model. The growth of the scratch is nonlinear when it is subjected to the cyclic load. The compressive residual stress reduces the growth rate of the crack. The crack with larger initial surface roughness grows faster than that with smaller roughness. The correlation of surface roughness, residual stress and crack growth length is obtained by the polynomial fitting. The investigations in this paper can help the damage tolerance design of structures and improve the awareness of the effect of the residual stress and surface roughness induced by the machining process on the short crack growth.