Material production Flashcards
what is lamination
a process in which one or more layers are added to a material to form a composite
- often used to increase strength and rigidity
examples of when laminations used in material
- foam core board and corrugated card, which are stronger and stiffer than any other types of cardboard with a single layer of material
- plywood - made up of layers of wood that are glued together to resist bending forces
- delicate fabrics - laminated for extra strength, stiffness and protection
what are interfacings
- extra layers of fabric stuck or sewn onto the inside of products
- used to improve functionality and aesthetics
examples of when interfacings are used
- in collars, cuffs ,pockets or waistbands, anywhere that needs extra strength or rigidity
what is webbing
- when a fabric is woven in a way that gives a very high tensile strength
- used in situations where it will be under tension such as in tow ropes, climbing harnesses
what is bending used for
- to reinforce and stiffen material
- eg the middle fluted layer of corrugated card is made from a series of bend that add strength which is important for packaging heavy loads
what is folding
the bending of flexible material so that the two sides of the bend are flat against each other and a line called a crease or fold occurs between them.
- used to make a material more flexible
what is one off / bespoke product
a type of production where every item will be different in order to meet a customers exact requirements
examples of when one off production would be used
- making a wedding dress
- making made to measure furniture
disadvantages of one off production
- workforce needs to be highly skilled, especially if design is quite detailed so it’s an expensive way to make things
- the type of production is very labour intensive so it takes a lot of time to make each product
advantages of one off production
- prototypes for a new product are normally produced as a one off
- so if the prototype works well, the product may then be manufactured in greater volumes
what is batch production
where a specific quantity of a product is made
advantages of batch production
- you do one process on the whole batch then another process, so it’s quicker than doing one off
- they can be used to manufacture loads of one product then a load of another
examples of things that use batch production
- PCBs - cos different electronic products require different PCB designs
- Templates, jigs and moulds
advantages of mass production
- designs are less detailed so can help achieve consistency
- workforce doesn’t need as much skill as one off
- less labour intensive than one off
disadvantages of batch production
the machinery and workforce used need to be flexible and be able to quickly change
- the time between batches, when machines and tools may have to be set up differently or changed, wastes money as they’re not making anything they can sell
what is mass production
making a large amount of the same product
examples of things that are produced using mass production
newspapers
magazines
cars
when would you use mass production
for a mass market product - when lots of people want the same thing
advantages of mass production
- stages of production broken down into simple repetitive tasks, improves consistency
- each worker only does a small part of the process, makes job quicker
- products have basic designs to make production simpler
- most of the staff don’t need to be highly skilled so recruitment is easy
disadvantages of mass production
they often use expensive specialised equipment and CAD and CAM
what is continuous production
production that runs all the time, without interruption, 24 hours a day
- as it would be too expensive to keep stopping and restarting the process
disadvantages of continuous production
- expensive
advantages of continuous production
- pretty much entirely automated, meaning very few workers are needed
- can be designed to be very efficient , so the cost per item is cheap
- used to make products such as aluminium foil and chemicals
what does quality control involve
testing materials products or components to check they’ve been made to a high enough standard and they meet the manufacturing specification
how comes only a sample of the materials are tested when carrying out quality control
it would take too much time to check them all
why is it important that the dimensions of components are accurate
if they aren’t, the parts won’t fit together properly when the product is assembled
what is tolerance (simple definition)
the margin of error that is considered to be acceptable and won’t affect the product’s functionality
why should tolerances be included on working drawings
to show the limits within which the product should be manyfactured
what are go/no go fixtures
they are limit gauges which check to see whether the size of a part is within its tolerance
- theyre usually double ended - one is machines to the lower limit and the other end to the upper limit of tolerance
advantages of using a go/no go fixture
the checks don’t take very long and are much quicker than measuring actual dimensions of a component
how does a registration mark work
if the plates are in the right places, you get a single, clear image
If not, the registration mark will be printed, a bit fuzzy
How do manufacturers check that repeating prints are being printed correctly onto fabrics?
They compare prints to an original sample print
- This is much quicker and easier to do than try to measure the dimensions of each part of the repeating pattern one at a time
what are depth stops
- long rods that are clamped close to the drill bit of some drills
- they allow you to drill a hole to an exact depth in whatever material you are drilling
- they nice this depth has been reached, the depth stop will come into contact with the material and will prevent you from drilling any deeper
how should a laser cutter be programmed
- needs to programmed with the right information
eg. the dimensions of the components to be cut - so the laser cutter knows exactly where to cut - the correct power settings and feed rate
what is the feed rate of a laser cutter
the speed that the laser moves over and cuts the material
why is it beneficial if a laser cutter is programmed correctly
because then the laser cutter can cut to a tiny tolerance ( with high accuracy and precision)
how are PCBs manufactured using photo etching
- in this process, the PCB is exposed to UV light, which removes unwanted copper from the board, leaving behind the copper needed to form the tracks
why do exposure times need to be carefully chosen when manufacturing PCBs
- exposing the pcb for too long may cause the copper tracks to be removed
- exposing it for too little time will mean that unwanted copper will remain
once chosen, why should exposure times be kept the same for every PCB that is produced
to make sure all of them are of a consistent quality when output
what is quality control
ensuring products are manufactured to a high enough standard
what is a registration mark used for
- normally appears as a cross shape
- used by manufacturers to check the quality of colour printing onto paper and board
- used to make sure the printing plates are aligned in the right position
why should a sample still need to be checked after laser cutting
to make sure the machine hasn’t malfunctioned or been incorrectly programmed
