Manufacturing Processes (Cutting & Forming) - Week 4 Flashcards
What does the process hierarchy consist of?
Casting, Cutting, Forming and Joining
What is most common type of manufacturing process?
Cutting is probably the most common type of manufacturing process,
including machining, drilling and grinding
How does cutting operate?
All cutting processes operate by selectively removing material from a solid
to produce the required shape; thus waste is always created
When is cutting used in most cases?
Cutting is often used as a secondary or finishing process following casting,
forming or powder processing
What is cutting used to do as a secondary process?
▪ Improve dimensional tolerance (high precision work such as the
machining of crankshaft journals)
▪ Improve surface texture
▪ Produce geometrical features such as holes or slots
▪ Remove sprue from an injection moulding
Give some examples of mechanical cutting machines?
- Lathe/drill
- Lathe
- Milling machine
What is Electrochemical Machining?
- Used for (slowly) cutting hard metallic materials into complicated shapes
- Used for mass production
Explain the process of ElectroChemical Machining
- A cathode (tool) is advanced into an anode (workpiece)
- The pressurized electrolyte is injected at a set temperature to the area being cut.
- As electrons cross the gap, material from the workpiece is dissolved, as the tool forms the desired shape in the workpiece.
- The feed rate is the same as the rate of gas turning into liquid of the material
- The gap between the tool and the
workpiece varies within 80-800 micrometers - The electrolytic fluid carries away the metal hydroxide formed in the process
What must the metal involved for ECM be?
Fundamentally, the metal involved must be electrically conducting
What are the Advantages of ECM?
▪ Can cut small or odd-shaped angles, intricate contours or cavities in hard
and exotic metals
▪ As no contact there is no need to use expensive alloys to make the tool
tougher than the workpiece.
▪ Less tool wear in ECM, and less heat and stress are produced in processing
that could damage the part.
▪ Both external and internal geometries can be machined.
▪ Fewer passes are typically needed, and the tool can be repeatedly used
What are the disadvantages of ECM?
▪ High tooling costs
▪ Up to 40,000 amps of current must be applied to the workpiece.
▪ The saline (or Acidic) electrolyte also poses the risk of corrosion to tool,
workpiece and equipment.
▪ Its use is limited to electrically conductive materials
Give some examples of exotic metals
- Titanium aluminides and high nickel
- Cobalt
- Rhenium alloys
What is Electrical Discharge Machining?
A manufacturing process whereby a
desired shape is obtained using electrical discharges (sparks)
What is EDM referred to as?
Spark machining/spark eroding/burning/die sinking/wire erosion
Explain the process of EDM?
A low conductivity (dielectric) fluid is placed between the two electrodes;
metal is removed (vaporised) precisely by high voltage sparking between
the tool (anode) and the workpiece (cathode)
How is the material removed in EDM?
Material is removed from the workpiece by a series of rapidly recurring current discharges between two electrodes, separated by a dielectric liquid and subject to an electric voltage
What are the names of the electrodes used?
One of the electrodes is called the tool-electrode, while the other is called the workpiece-electrode
What happens when the distance between the two electrodes is reduced?
The intensity of the electric field in the volume between the electrodes becomes greater than the strength of the dielectric, which breaks, allowing current to flow between the two electrodes. As a result, material is removed from both the electrodes
What happens when the current flow stops?
New liquid dielectric is usually conveyed into the inter-electrode volume enabling the solid particles (debris) to be carried away and the insulating proprieties of the dielectric to be restored
What are the advantages of EDM?
▪ Complex shapes that would otherwise be difficult to produce with conventional cutting tools
▪ Extremely hard material to very close tolerances
▪ Very small work pieces where conventional cutting tools may damage the
part from excess cutting tool pressure.
▪ There is no direct contact between tool and work piece. Therefore delicate
sections and weak materials can be machined without any distortion.
▪ A good surface finish can be obtained.
▪ Very fine holes can be easily drilled