微型化制造设备与微型制造系统

介绍了微型机床与微型工厂概念提出的背景和科学意义，综述了目前微型工厂／微型制造系统的研究发展概况，探讨了制造设备与系统微型化的关键问题，指出了一些需要开展的研究方向，并提出了几项建议。     

机械微钻削技术的研究现状

随着工业产品的需求不断向微型化、小型化、精密化方向发展,对微制造技术提出了挑战。与传统MEMS等微制造技术相比,微细机械加工方法在制造高精度、形状复杂的微小零件时具有独特优势。机械微钻削技术是微细机械加工方法的重要组成,广泛用于各种工业领域。受刀具尺度的影响,需要对微钻削技术进行一些列理论和技术的研究。因此从微钻头几何形状、微钻刃磨、微钻削机理、微钻削润滑、微钻涂层技术几个方面系统地介绍了机械微钻削技术研究现状,为该技术的深入研究提供参考。     

An inter-machine material handling system for micro-manufacturing based on using a standard carrier

Lack of standardization is often a key problem area limiting the applications of any new automated micro-handling technology, due to that equipment makers may have to spend an excessive amount of time and resources to customize automation solutions. Carrier-based material handling systems provide product-independent solutions. Product independency is an essential requirement for re-using material handling systems, because they allow product change without mechanical changes in the transport devices. This paper describes a new automated inter-machine material handling system for micro-manufacturing integration, based on the standard carrier DIN-32561. The main task of the system is to transport (full/empty) carriers between different stations/machines in a micro-manufacturing plant, to integrate assembly and manufacturing. The authors designed a conveyor belt and an automated guided vehicle system to fit into a linear pick-and-place micro-manufacturing plant. Prototypes of the different components were then developed and tested.     

Cost model development using virtual manufacturing and data mining: part I—methodology development

This paper reports on research, the aim of which has been to investigate the use of virtual manufacturing and data mining techniques to automate the identification of manufacturing process time estimating relationships that form the basis of product and process cost models. Such models provide information that is critical to all stages of the product development process and to ensuring that development of cost-effective product design and production methods. Use of virtual manufacturing models and data mining techniques enables the majority of the activities involved in the cost model development process to be automated. Hence, reducing the time and effort required, reducing the current high level of reliance on expert judgment and enabling higher levels of cost detail to be estimated. The research reported, therefore, focuses on the use of virtual manufacturing to generate datasets which are then analysed using data mining to identify suitable cost models for manufacturing processes. Part I, of this two-part paper, describes the development of a model development methodology that makes use of virtual manufacturing models and data mining techniques and uses case study data to validate this methodology. Part II will then examine in detail the effectiveness of alternative data mining algorithms in terms of their ability to develop relationships that are (1) representative of the real causal relationships that exist and (2) provide a high level of estimating accuracy.     

面向全球制造环境的先进制造使能技术

动态联盟企业的组织模式,联盟企业间的动态伙伴关系,动态联盟的群体决策支持系统,动态联盟的组织运行和经营管理技术是敏捷企业的主要研究内容,并行设计技术主要同向球制造网的产品并行设计技术,异地设计与制造技术主要研究异地设计环境下产吕数字化建模及数字化定义,分布式数字化装配技术,工装数字化设计及工装数字化装配技术,虚拟制造与制造过程仿真技术,支持异地设计与制造的计算机协同支持环境（CSCW）等,GM环境下的产品信息集成技术主要研究基于Internet技术的STEP信息集成,分布式产品数据管理技术,基于分布式对象体系的信息集成和全球制造环境网络支持平台,GM环境下的产品开发过程研究的主要研究对象包括产品开发过程建模及分析,仿真工具,产品开发过程管理等。     

Virtual plastic injection molding based on virtual reality technique

Virtual reality (VR), as a new technology, is integrated with software systems for engineering, design, and manufacturing. The integration has given a new impetus to the field of computer-aided engineering. This paper presents a research effort aimed at creating a virtual plastic injection molding (VPIM) environment, which is designed and implemented based on techniques such as VR, multidiscipline simulation, and scientific visualization. The VPIM system includes two parts: designing in VPIM and evaluation in VPIM. It is the first system to scrutinize virtual prototype mock-ups of new products, machines and production processes in interactive graphic simulation. During the evaluating phase, coupled to appropriate computer-based reasoning and decision-support tools and driven by data from the real manufacturing environment, a realistic impression of the process of plastic injection molding and manufacture can be achieved and can be changed interactively, and it is possible to thoroughly examine the planned system and eventually detect and remove any defects and inadequacies. The construction approach and key techniques (FEA, virtual assembly, stereoscopic display, a triangulated boundary-representation of an approximating polyhedron, collision detection, etc.) of the system are described in detail. The overall system is a powerful new approach for highly relevant industrial application of VPIM which focuses on the construction and assessment of alternate manufacturing sequences and mold design in an early design stage. Improvement of the design and manufacturing process will lead to better design and reduced development time and cost.     

谈我国衡器技术的现状与发展趋势

本文阐述了我国衡器技术的现状与发展趋势,指出衡器企业要加大理论创新、技术创新的力度,以质量为中心、以管理为基础,努力提高制造技术与制造工艺水平,稳定产品质量,增强国际市场竞争能力。     

摩擦焊接及其工艺发展

摩擦焊是一种先进的制造工艺,在各行各业中有着广泛的应用,文章介绍了摩擦焊接的特点、分类、常见缺陷及最新工艺的发展。     

Layer manufacturing for in vivo devices

Traditional in vivo devices fabricated to be used as implantation devices included sutures, plates, pins, screws, and joint replacement implants. Also, akin to developments in regenerative medicine and drug delivery, there has been the pursuit of less conventional in vivo devices that demand complex architecture and composition, such as tissue scaffolds. Commercial means of fabricating traditional devices include machining and moulding processes. Such manufacturing techniques impose considerable lead times and geometrical limitations, and restrict the economic production of customized products. Attempts at the production of non-conventional devices have included particulate leaching, solvent casting, and phase transition. These techniques cannot provide the desired total control over internal architecture and compositional variation, which subsequently restricts the application of these products. Consequently, several parties are investigating the use of freeform layer manufacturing techniques to overcome these difficulties and provide viable in vivo devices of greater functionality. This paper identifies the concepts of rapid manufacturing (RM) and the development of biomanufacturing based on layer manufacturing techniques. Particular emphasis is placed on the development and experimentation of new materials for bio-RM, production techniques based on the layer manufacturing concept, and computer modelling of in vivo devices for RM techniques.     

Cost model development using virtual manufacturing and data mining: part II—comparison of data mining algorithms

Cost models of manufacturing processes are an important tool enabling enterprises to make reasonable predictions and forecasts in relation to the production costs for existing and new products. Accurate and robust cost models can help to provide significant competitive advantage for manufacturing organisations. Advanced computational methods such as virtual manufacturing and data mining have been identified as potentially powerful techniques for generating cost models that bypass the problems associated with traditional cost modelling processes. Part I, of this two-part paper, described the development of a cost model development methodology that makes use of virtual manufacturing models and data mining techniques and used case study data to validate this methodology. A critical part of this methodology is the selection and use of effective data analysis techniques that can identify accurate and robust cost estimating relationships. Part II now examines in detail the effectiveness of alternative data mining algorithms in terms of their ability to develop relationships that are (1) representative of the real causal relationships that exist and (2) able to provide a high level of estimating accuracy. More specifically, it focuses on the data generated by virtual manufacturing models and how the size and complexity of the generated data sets impact the accuracy of the cost estimating relationships.     

A web-enabled open database system for design and manufacturing of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)

This paper presents the development of a web-enabled database system for MEMS design and manufacturing which can provide the networked design and manufacturing services over the Internet. Specifically, the data obtained from various sources for MEMS manufacturing processes/materials are organised as databases by using the relational database management systems (RDBMS), Microsoft Access and MySQL. The database system can be accessed from a Java application as well as an applet. The stand-alone Java application is created using JFC Swing, JDBC and SQL, and the Java applet is subsequently created to enable web functionality. The underlying database is open, extensible through a set of administrator tools or via the web, which gives commercial design and manufacturing facilities the ability to update their own materials, processes and rules. This plays a crucial role in the system for advisory MEMS manufacturing service and concurrent collaborative MEMS design and simulation. The developed database system, e-MEMS Designer @Database, which contains extensive manufacturing or fabrication processes and materials databases for MEMS and microelectronics, is easily incorporated as a sub-system into both the standalone system and the web-enabled MEMS design system, MEMS Designer, which is being developed. The database system can also be updated to create a comprehensive data warehouse and an advisory system for MEMS manufacturing processes/materials selection.     

A new algorithm for optimum tolerance allocation of complex assemblies with alternative processes selection

Allocating tolerance to sub-components of a complex assembly with alternative processes selection by using Lagrange’s multiplier method is tedious as well as difficult. The present work is aims to solve the problem with simple effort in three stages. In the first stage, the maximum of two processes are selected from the alternative processes of each component and these two processes correspond to the smaller sum of difference in manufacturing cost. A hybrid optimum tolerance allocation method is developed in a second and third stage by combining Tabu search (TS) and heuristic approach. Application of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated on complex tolerancing products like knuckle joint and wheel mounting assembly. For the same manufacturing conditions, compared with tolerance synthesis by Singh method, the proposed method saved nearly $74,880 and $479,520, respectively, per year in manufacturing costs of knuckle joint and wheel mounting assembly.     

Concurrent multi-objective tolerance allocation of mechanical assemblies considering alternative manufacturing process selection

Concurrent design of tolerances by considering both the manufacturing cost and quality loss of each component by alternate processes of the assemblies may ensure the manufacturability, reduce the manufacturing costs, decrease the number of fraction nonconforming (or defective rate), and shorten the production lead time. Most of the current tolerance design research does not consider the quality loss. In this paper, a novel multi-objective optimization method is proposed to enhance the operations of the non-traditional algorithms (Elitist Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO)) and systematically distribute the tolerances among various the components of mechanical assemblies. The problem has a multi-criterion character in which three objective functions, one constraint, and three variables are considered. The average fitness factor method and normalized weighted objective function method are used to select the best optimal solution from Pareto-optimal fronts. Two multi-objective performance measures namely solution spread measure and ratio of non-dominated individuals are used to evaluate the strength of Pareto-optimal fronts. Two more multi-objective performance measures namely optimizer overhead and algorithm effort are used to find the computational effort of NSGA-II and MOPSO algorithms. The Pareto-optimal fronts and results obtained from various techniques are compared and analysed. Both NSGA-II and MOPSO algorithms are best for this problem.     

A new multi-objective optimization method for master production scheduling problems based on genetic algorithm

In an environment of global competition, the success of a manufacturing corporation is directly related to the optimization level of its processes in general, but, in particular, to how it plans and executes production. In this context, the master production schedule (MPS) is the key activity for success. In this paper, as in most industries worldwide, the creation of an MPS considers conflicting objectives, such as maximization of service levels, efficient use of resources, and minimization of inventory levels. Unfortunately, the complexity and effort demanded for the creation of a master plan grows rapidly as the production scenario increases, especially when resources are limited, which is the case for most industries. Due to such complexity, industries usually use simple heuristics implemented in spreadsheets that provide a quick plan, but can compromise efficiency and costs. Fortunately, researchers are often proposing new ideas to improve production planning, such as use of artificial intelligence-based heuristics. This work presents the development and use of genetic algorithm (GA) to MPS problems, something that does not seem to have been done so far. It proposes a new genetic algorithm structure, and describes the multi-objective fitness function used, the set of possible individual selection techniques, and the adjustment values for the crossover and mutation operators. The GA developed was applied to two manufacturing scenarios and the most important parameters for the configuration of the GA were identified. This research shows that the use of genetic algorithms is a viable technique for MPS problems; however, its applicability is still heavily dependent on the size of the manufacturing scenario.     

凸轮轴制造工艺及国内外发展趋势

论述了凸轮轴的发展背景及其加工工艺，所用材料用途等。介绍了凸轮轴的制造技术，使用范围及国内外的生产技术现状和发展趋势。气门运动规律关系到一台发动机的动力和运转特性，因此，凸轮轴设计在发动机的设计过程中占据着十分重要的地位。     

Key issues and developments in modelling and simulation-based methodologies for manufacturing systems analysis, design and performance evaluation

Discrete event simulation (DES) has been widely applied to modelling and simulation of computer and engineering systems and is an active field of research that has now evolved from 2D to 3D discrete event simulation. This paper attempts to address several key issues in a successful implementation of DES models based on our own and the previous experiences of others. It describes the common basis, which forms the core for the application of modelling and simulation methodologies that are available to support manufacturing systems analysis, design and performance evaluation. Through a comprehensive literature survey, this paper summarises and compares the most widely used optimisation techniques for simulation of manufacturing systems; an overview of the recent and popular simulation languages and packages available for the modelling and simulation community and the classification of their utility for modelling and simulation of manufacturing systems is also given. Finally, this paper summarises and reports the latest development in the most exciting world wide web (www)-based simulation techniques that represent a future that may completely change the nature and future exploitation of modelling and simulation technology in industry.     

Current challenges and potential directions towards precision microscale additive manufacturing – Part I: Direct ink writing/jetting processes

This paper is the first in a series of articles which comprehensively discuss the state-of-the-art in microscale additive manufacturing processes and present solutions to challenges impeding their scalability. In this paper, a class of additive manufacturing techniques known as Direct Ink Write/Jet Processes are explored which have been used by researchers for fabrication of microscale parts with varying geometric freedom. The paper identified the key challenges to high throughput 3D microfabrication using these processes, by analyzing the material constraints, geometric constraints, feature-size resolution limits and throughput limits. While some of these challenges can be overcome by novel precision engineering approaches, there are several others which need an acute understanding of material systems, process parameters and critical components. This paper identifies these challenges and suggests potential approaches to eliminate them with the goal of fabricating true-3D parts at high throughputs.     

Evaluation of leanness using fuzzy association rules mining

The modern manufacturing organizations are adopting lean manufacturing principles so as to eliminate wastes and streamline their processes. The evaluation of leanness gains vital importance. Multiple tools/techniques are available for ensuring leanness. Due to the impreciseness and vagueness associated with decision-making problems, fuzzy logic need to be used. Relational databases enable decision-making process. This article presents a study in which fuzzy association rules mining approach has been used for leanness evaluation of an Indian modular switches manufacturing organization. The experiences gained as a result of the conduct of the study indicated that leanness evaluation could be performed by the decision makers without any constraints.     

Advances in compact manufacturing for shape and performance controllability of large-scale components-a review

Research on compact manufacturing technology for shape and performance controllability of metallic components can realize the simplification and high-reliability of manufacturing process on the premise of satisfying the requirement of macro/micro-structure. It is not only the key paths in improving performance, saving material and energy, and green manufacturing of components used in major equipments, but also the challenging subjects in frontiers of advanced plastic forming. To provide a novel horizon for the manufacturing in the critical components is significant. Focused on the high-performance large-scale components such as bearing rings, flanges, railway wheels, thick-walled pipes, etc, the conventional processes and their developing situations are summarized. The existing problems including multi-pass heating, wasting material and energy, high cost and high-emission are discussed, and the present study unable to meet the manufacturing in high-quality components is also pointed out. Thus, the new techniques related to casting-rolling compound precise forming of rings, compact manufacturing for duplex-metal composite rings, compact manufacturing for railway wheels, and casting-extruding continuous forming of thick-walled pipes are introduced in detail, respectively. The corresponding research contents, such as casting ring blank, hot ring rolling, near solid-state pressure forming, hot extruding, are elaborated. Some findings in through-thickness microstructure evolution and mechanical properties are also presented. The components produced by the new techniques are mainly characterized by fine and homogeneous grains. Moreover, the possible directions for further development of those techniques are suggested. Finally, the key scientific problems are first proposed. All of these results and conclusions have reference value and guiding significance for the integrated control of shape and performance in advanced compact manufacturing.     

Preparing for life without lead [printed circuit production]

The electronics manufacturing industry is facing one of its biggest challenges in years. EU directives on waste of electrical equipment and the restriction of hazardous materials used in these products mean that conventional tin-lead solders will be prohibited in the printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing process as of July 2006. In terms of, impact within the electronics industry, preparing for this transition will be not dissimilar to the challenges presented by the Y2K bug at the turn of the century. In addition to the impact on manufacturing processes, there will also be significant implications on producers' supply chain strategies, inventory control, IT systems and operational logistics. Like Y2K, the industry is working against a non-negotiable timeframe. However, key to meeting the July 2006 deadline is the establishment of a strong, all-encompassing strategy that not only meets the technical challenges, but also addresses the many logistical issues likely to arise. Collaboration alone does not guarantee a successful process transition. Printed circuit producers must allow sufficient time to fully qualify their internal manufacturing processes. The author looks at how this will require the extensive testing of materials and equipment