Metals, Polymers, Timbers, Smart Materials Flashcards
Name 3 types of manufacturing boards
Chipboard, plywood, MDF
What is chipboard, mdf and plywood
Chipboard is brittle/cheap and is made from wood scraps and resin compressed onto one and other
MDF dosn’t have a grain so its pretty tough and smooth
Plywood is lots of layers of wood stacked against each other with their grains facing in different directions .
Name some softwood trees
Larch, pine, redwood, spruce
Name some hardwood trees
Oak, ash, beech, balsa
What is seasoning and name some types of it?
Seasoning is the process in which moisture is removed from freshly cut trees.
-air seasoning
-kiln seasoning
What is conversion?
Conversion means cutting down a tree and cutting it down into usable planks
Which is coniferous or deciduous - hardwood and softwood
Softwood - coniferous
Hardwood - deciduous
Name some properties of softwood
-Mainly grow in a cooler climate
-they are soft and easy to work with
-they are often used as building material
-they have a looser grain structure
-they grow tall and straight
-they are evergreen so they do not loose their leaves
-grow faster than hardwood therefore cheaper
Name some hardwood properties
-they loose their leaves in the winter
-they grow in temperate climates
-they are broad-leaved trees and the seeds are enclosed in the fruit that the tree produces
-they are usually quite hard
-have a tighter grain
-can take up to 100 years to grow so expensive
-they can be very expensive
What are ores?
Naturally occuring rocks that contain metals
Can most metals be recycled?
Yes
Name some properties of ferrous metals
-contains iron
-are magnetic
-contains carbon content making it prone to corrosion
Name some properties of non ferrous metals
-do not contain iron
-not magnetic
-It is resistant to corrosion (rust)
-conduct heat and electricity
Name some ferrous metals
-cast iron
-low carbon steel
-high carbon steel
-stainless steel
-high speed steel
What is an alloy?
A mixture of two or more metals
Name some non-ferrous metals
-aluminium
-copper
-zinc
-brass
-tin
What are renewable plastics called?
Bioplastics
When were polymers introduced?
1950’s
What are bioplastics made from?
Plant oils
What are thermoforming plastics?
Thermoforming plastics can be reheated so it can be re-moulded (recycable)
Name some thermoforming plastics
PMMA, PET, HIPS, PP, PVC, HDPE
What are thermosetting plastics?
Thermosetting plastics cannot be reheated and are also cheaper than thermoforming plastics and are non-recycable
Name some thermosetting plastics
MF, PF, UF
Name some polymer additives and say what they do
-pigments (changes colour)
-fillers (increase the bulk, improves its impact resistance)
-stabiliser (withstands UV light damage)
What is a production line?
It is a series of processes to make a product (linear)
It could be manual or machine
Name the 4 scales of production
-prototype or one-off production
-batch production ( a set number of products )
-mass production ( a very large number )
-continous production ( it never stops )
What is a stock form?
It is how we buy a product - you can buy them in tubes, rods, pellets, sheets, rolls
What is quality control and what is quality assurance?
Quality control is where you actually check the actual product if its up to working standards for e.g throwing a dyson down the stairs and seeing if it still works
Quality assurance is where you monitor and control the products to see if they are up to good standard.
What is a mould?
Pour something into a mould to make it into a specific shape
What is a former?
A construction used to help with shaping operation
What is a jig?
It will help you do thing accuratly ( lining things up )
What’s a template?
Helps you draw around something
What is tolerance?
Acceptable range of something for e.g a product can weigh between 45g and 55g
What is a router?
Can be used to shape, cut and create designs in wood. The router spins around to create different designs in the wood.
What is turning?
It is a process where you put a piece of wood onto a central lathe and then you different jigs/formers to cut and shape the wood into the ideal shape while the lathe spins the wood. You can use different speeds to assist you in cutting the wood. There is also a tool rest to support your tool and give you a better cut.
What is laminating?
Thin strips of wood are glued together and clamped to a former creating a bend in the wood
What is steam bending?
Thicker pieces of timber can be bent if they get steamed first. Then they are clamped to a former therefore making a bend in the wood. The steam penetrates the timber fibres and temporarily softens them, allowing them to be formed.
What is kerfing?
Adding thin saw cuts into a thicker material, you can make it flexible, enabiling you to make curved shapes.
What is line bending?
Line bending is a thermoforming process, which requires softening a thermoplastic material until malleable. The substrate can then be bent to an angle using a jig or a former. Line bending is an efficient low cost process to create straight bends which involves very little tooling.
What is injection moulding?
Bits of plastics are put into the hopper
Then the plastic is pushed forward into the heating chamber via a screw
The heating chamber heats the plastic and the screw pushes it though the ram and into the mould
It is then cooled off.
What is vacuum forming?
- The mould is placed into the former.
- A sheet of thermoplastic, such as HIPS is clamped over the mould.
- The plastic is slowly heated to become soft.
- The former is raised and the air is sucked out, drawing the plastic over the mould to take on its shape.
- The plastic is allowed to cool and then removed from the mould.
- The edges must then be trimmed and finished.
What is blow moulding?
- Mould is opened into it’s two halves.
A hollow tube of polymer known as the parison is heated. - The parison is lowered into the mould.
- Mould is clamped shut, leaving only a small hole for the air hose.
- Air is forced into the mould at high pressure. The plastic is forced to the mould sides and cools.
What is extrusion?
The small bits of plastic are put into the hopper
It then gets fed into the heating chamber and is heated till liquid form
Then gets pushed forward into the die in which the shape is made ( the shape is a continious shape for e.g. a tube )
Then it gets cooled of by a cooling station
Phosphorescent
Phosphorescence is a process where energy from the sun is absorbed by a ‘material’ and it is released slowly over a long time, in the form of light.
Piezoelectric
electrical charge built up in response to mechanical stress.
Thermochromic
It changes colour due to temperature
Photochromic
UV light stimulates particles in a special pigment.
Shape memory alloy
Are metal alloys that can remember their shape when heated.
If the shape of the object is changed it will return to its original shape when heat or a current is applied.
QTC - Quantum Tunnelling Composite
QTC varies its electrical resistance depending on the amount of pressure or stress applied to it.
What are smart materials?
Smart materials are designed materials that have one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled fashion
by external stimuli, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, electric or
magnetic fields.
