Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture 

About: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture is an academic journal published by SAGE Publishing. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Materials science & Machining. It has an ISSN identifier of 0954-4054. Over the lifetime, 302 publications have been published receiving 509 citations. The journal is also known as: Journal of engineering manufacture.

Recent developments in large-scale dimensional metrology

Abstract: With ever-more demanding requirements for the accurate manufacture of large components, dimensional measuring techniques are becoming progressively more sophisticated. This review describes some of the more recently developed techniques and the state-of-the-art in the more well-known large-scale dimensional metrology methods. In some cases, the techniques are described in detail, or, where relevant specialist review papers exist, these are cited as further reading. The traceability of the measurement data collected is discussed with reference to new international standards that are emerging. In some cases, hybrid measurement techniques are finding specialized applications and these are referred to where appropriate. © IMechE 2009.

Suppression of Bending Phenomenon of Steel Tube in Diameter Reduction by Cold Press

Abstract: A new die design is proposed for the suppression of the bending phenomenon that occurs in the cold-reduction process of the outside diameter of steel tube using a die. Numerical investigation by axi-symmetric elastic-plastic finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out in order to determine appropriate die geometry for the suppression of the bending phenomenon. The proposed die geometry suppresses the undershooting phenomenon by which the outside diameter of a worked tube is smaller than the inside diameter of the die, and ensures the contact of the tube outer surface to the bearing portion of the die to suppress the bending phenomenon. The key to the new die design for suppressing the undershooting phenomenon is the installation of a finishing zone with a small die angle where a small reduction of diameter is given to the tube. For suppressing the bending phenomenon, longer bearing length is necessary in addition to the suppression of undershooting. In order to examine the validity of the calculated result by FEA, a laboratory experiment was carried out on a steel tube with 0.45 per cent mass carbon content.

Prediction of tool wear based on GA-BP neural network

Abstract: The anisotropy and nonuniformity of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) affect the milling tool, which rapidly wears during high-speed milling of WPCs. Thus, the evolution mechanism of tool failure becomes complicated, and the prediction of tool wear cannot be precisely described mathematically. A neural network based on tool wear test was proposed to predict the tool wear condition during high-speed milling of WPCs. The traditional backpropagation (BP) neural network easily falls into the local optimal solution. A genetic algorithm (GA-BP) neural network prediction model was established by using the GA to optimise its initial weight and threshold. The BP model and the GA-BP model were evaluated in terms of mean square error and training times, and the generalisation verification was applied to the prediction model. After analysing and comparing the results of the two models, the GA-BP neural network model has better training speed and accuracy under the test conditions. The relative error between the predicted value and the actual value is controlled within 5%.

Micro-channel fabrication on GFRP composite through electrochemical spark machining method and optimization of process parameters

Abstract: In the present study, fabrication of micro-channel on glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) sheet has been performed through micro-electrochemical spark machining process. Box-Behnken design has been followed to conduct experiments and the influence of machining parameters and their ranges that is, applied voltage (50 V–60 V), duty factor (35%–45%), electrolyte concentration (20–30 wt%), and pulse frequency (6–10 kHz) on the micro-channel quality has been investigated. The width of micro-channel (WMC), delamination extent (DE), and heat-affected zone (HAZ) are considered as the responses. Response surface method (RSM) with desirability analysis and multi-objective optimization are utilized to optimize the process. The minimum observed WMC, DE, and HAZ are 532.81, 1.09, and 50.52 μm respectively which are obtained at machining voltage: 50 V, duty factor: 35%, concentration: 20 wt% of NaOH, and pulse frequency: 10 kHz. The fiber breakage and re-deposition/adhesion of broken fiber and matrix materials are observed at the edges of the micro-channel.

Effect of thermo-mechanical loading on machining induced residual stresses in ultrasonic vibration assisted turning of Ti6Al4V alloy

Abstract: The study of residual stresses induced during machining is of considerable importance due to their effect on fatigue life of machined components. The metallurgical changes occurred due to thermo-mechanical phenomenon in cutting process affects the distribution of residual stress in machined components. Ultrasonic vibration assisted turning (UVAT) is effective machining process for low thermal conductivity materials like Ti6Al4V alloy and improves the surface characteristics by reducing cutting force and cutting temperature. In this paper, experimental and finite element (FE) studies are conducted to study the circumferential and axial residual stress distribution in UVAT of Ti6Al4V alloy. FE model is developed to study the effect of vibrating parameter (ultrasonic power intensity) and cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut) on the residual stress profiles of machined surface. The FE simulation results of cutting force and cutting temperature are validated with experimental results. The circumferential and axial surface residual stresses obtained from FE simulation are also compared with experimental results using X-ray diffraction method. The effect of thermo-mechanical loading on residual stress distribution is analyzed with respect to force components (cutting force and feed force) and cutting temperature. Finally, the effect of each cutting parameter on subsurface layer of machined component is analyzed.