Metal Processes Flashcards
Manufacturing with metals covers a broad range of processes. You should become familiar with the main types of processing and be able to provide examples of where they are used in the manufacture of products.
There are three areas of processing metals. What are they?
The three areas of processing metals are:
- Wasting - where material is cut away
- Addition / joining - where materials are joined together
- Redistribution - where materials are reshaped without loss of material
List 8 metal wasting processes.
Metal Wasting Processes:
- Sawing/cutting
- Filing
- Drilling
- Milling
- Grinding
- Sanding
- Blanking
- Piercing
List the 3 main types of metal joining processes.
Metal Addition / Joining processes
- Mechanical fixings - eg. bolts, screws and rivets
- Permanent fixing - eg. welding, brazing and soldering
- Adhesives eg. specialist glues
List the 4 main areas of metal redistribution processes.
Metal Redistribution Processes:
- Casting - eg. sand and die casting
- Forging - eg. hot and cold forging
- Forming - eg. press forming, embossing and coining
- Sintering
What is the name of this process and what type of process is it?
Plasma cutting
What are the 3 advantages of plasma cutting sheet metals?
The advantages of plasma cutting are:
- Very little waste material is produced
- The cut is very fine
- Little or no finishing is required to remove burrs
What does the term finishing mean?
Finishing means the removal of burrs or other blemishes in a material following processes.
Sheet metals can be cut using a guillotine into useable sizes. This is done using a shearing action similar to the way scissors cut through paper. Draw a diagram showing how the shearing action works.
Shearing Action
Draw a diagram that shows blanking and piercing sheet metal.
Blanking and piercing sheet metal. Click hereto watch a video on how coins are made.
Is the disc shaped sheet material, used to make soft drinks cans, a blank or a sheet that has been pierced?
Soft drinks cans are made from disc shaped blanks. Click here to read about how a drinks can is made.
Click hereto watch a video about how aluminium cans are made.
Name a product or component that requires both blanking and piercing.
A casing for a desktop computer requires both blanking and piercing. The net of the case is blanked and the ventilation holes are pierced.
Heavyweight products such as tanks and diggers use steel sheets that can be between 8 to 12mm thick. What simple type of cutting process could be used on this?
The profile cut be cut with an oxy-acetylene torch.
What cutting process produces a finer cut than plasma cutting?
Laser cutting produces profiles with a width of cut that is far narrower than plasma, resulting in less waste material.
Draw a cross section of a laser cutter nozzle.
Both plasma and laser cutting can be automated by using CNC machines. What does CNC stand for?
Computer Numerical Control - CNC machines use a special machine programming language which can be generated from CAD drawings.
Apart from a finer cutting width, what other advantages does laser cutting have over plasma?
- A far broader range of materials (MDF, plywood, acrylic, paper etc) can be laser cut because plasma relies on the electrical conductive properties of metals.
- Laser cutting can also be used for engraving by altering the power and speed settings.
What does the term welding mean?
Welding is a general term given to joining metals and some polymers, by heat fusing the component materials together.
What is oxyacetylene gas welding used for?
Oxyacetylene gas welding is used for the prefabrication of sheet steel, tubes and plates.
What type of process is press-forming?
Press-forming is a redistribution process.
Press-forming is carried out at room temperature. However the material needs to be ductile. How can a material’s ductility be increased?
Some metals need to be annealed to be ductile enough for press-forming.
What two tools are used in the press-forming process?
Press-forming is carried out using a die and punch, both made from toughened die steel.
Draw a diagram of the press forming process.
Press-forming
How is press-forming used in the automotive (car) industry?
Press-forming is used to create car body panels. Click here to see how a car door panel is made.
What are the advantages of press-forming sheet metals?
- Creating a more 3D shape using press-forming increases the stiffness of the sheet metal.
- Less material is required as the sheet becomes more rigid.
- Holes can be cut at the same time as press-forming.
What other everyday objects are press-formed from sheet metals?
- Radiator panels
- Meat trays
- Cooker tops
Cupping is used to create cans from disc shaped blanks. Draw the 3 stages of the cupping process.
Cupping
Embossing is a press-forming process used to create decorative panels. List 3 products that are embossed.
Embossed products include:
- Jewellery
- Biscuit tin lids
- Paper & Card products such as letter headed paper and greetings cards
After cupping a disc shaped blank, an aluminium can is then deep drawn. Draw a diagram of the deep drawing process.
Deep drawing
How much can the thickness of the wall of a can be reduced by during the deep drawing process?
It is possible to reduce the thickness of the wall to a third of its original size using deep drawing.
Name a traditional process that forms circular sheet metals into 3D hollow objects.
Spinning