Development of Knowledge Based Process Planning System for Non-Symmetrical Sheet Metal Forming Processes. Sheet metal and automotive industries need to continually improve their strategic competitive advantages with flexibility and cost-effectiveness to remain competitive in a changing world economy. In order to achieve this, the primary objective in the proposed research is to design and develop a knowledge-based process planning system for non-symmetrical products produced by deep drawing pro ....Development of Knowledge Based Process Planning System for Non-Symmetrical Sheet Metal Forming Processes. Sheet metal and automotive industries need to continually improve their strategic competitive advantages with flexibility and cost-effectiveness to remain competitive in a changing world economy. In order to achieve this, the primary objective in the proposed research is to design and develop a knowledge-based process planning system for non-symmetrical products produced by deep drawing processes. This objective will be achieved by investigating the effect of process variable on drawability of sheet material, by obtaining relevant process information through necessary experimentation and finite element analysis and by development of a rule base by acquiring process information from domain experts selected from number of sheet metal manufacturing industries.Read moreRead less
Guaranteeing the safety of short welds in automotive applications. Most safety-critical welds in the automotive and related industries are of short duration (less than three seconds). We will develop a unified theoretical model of short welds which accounts for all important phenomena. Using this model, we will create the first system to check every safety-critical weld in real time, with 3D data objects that use all the data available from the non-stationary process. The outcomes will be a comp ....Guaranteeing the safety of short welds in automotive applications. Most safety-critical welds in the automotive and related industries are of short duration (less than three seconds). We will develop a unified theoretical model of short welds which accounts for all important phenomena. Using this model, we will create the first system to check every safety-critical weld in real time, with 3D data objects that use all the data available from the non-stationary process. The outcomes will be a comprehensive understanding of short welds, which will be an essential step towards the development of more reliable welding procedures, and a weld fault monitor ready for industrial application.Read moreRead less
Mechanics of mixed film lubrication in strip rolling. Rolling speeds of tandem cold rolling mills for thin steel strip are often limited by hot scratches and self excited chatter vibration, which forces the mill to slow down. Consequently the output is reduced and significant out-of-specification materials produced. Operating practices are guided by experience and trial-and-error method. In this project, a comprehensive model will be produced to quantify the effects of relevant parameters that c ....Mechanics of mixed film lubrication in strip rolling. Rolling speeds of tandem cold rolling mills for thin steel strip are often limited by hot scratches and self excited chatter vibration, which forces the mill to slow down. Consequently the output is reduced and significant out-of-specification materials produced. Operating practices are guided by experience and trial-and-error method. In this project, a comprehensive model will be produced to quantify the effects of relevant parameters that can provide a much better understanding of the rolling process at speeds higher than previously possible, and help to improve its productivity as well as product quality.Read moreRead less
An investigation of the mechanism of lacquer adhesion failure on electrolytic tinplate. "Tin" cans used for food packaging are actually made from tin-plated steel and, in most cases, the metal is coated with a lacquer. This lacquer is required to protect the can from corrosion and the contents from taint. The incidence of adhesion failure between the metal and the lacquer has increased recently for unknown reasons, causing considerable economic loss. This project will investigate the mechanisms ....An investigation of the mechanism of lacquer adhesion failure on electrolytic tinplate. "Tin" cans used for food packaging are actually made from tin-plated steel and, in most cases, the metal is coated with a lacquer. This lacquer is required to protect the can from corrosion and the contents from taint. The incidence of adhesion failure between the metal and the lacquer has increased recently for unknown reasons, causing considerable economic loss. This project will investigate the mechanisms of adhesion failure and improve our fundamental understanding of the problem. The results will be used to enable the selection of process conditions and lacquers that are more robust and reduce the incidence of adhesion failure.Read moreRead less
Design surface feature recognition for near net shaped manufactured components. The aim of this project is to investigate methods and techniques that, given an ab initio design requirement, allow databases of knowledge from previous designs to be intelligently searched for similar patterns, both geometric and physical state, that will assess the likelihood of a successful design and suggest potential alternatives based on previous experience
The plan is to approach the research problem from a m ....Design surface feature recognition for near net shaped manufactured components. The aim of this project is to investigate methods and techniques that, given an ab initio design requirement, allow databases of knowledge from previous designs to be intelligently searched for similar patterns, both geometric and physical state, that will assess the likelihood of a successful design and suggest potential alternatives based on previous experience
The plan is to approach the research problem from a machine learning/pattern recognition point of view. By mapping the characterized properties into a search space of reduced dimensionality in which feature patterns have been pre-classified through supervised training, it should be possible to identify similar features.
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Condition monitoring of large, horizontal low speed slew bearings. Remote sensing has often been used to collect vibration data .To date, no current analysis technique has produced results that appear consistent due to the low speed (less than 1 Hz), and the acyclic characteristic of the rolling element anti-friction bearing.
The contact vibration energy between rolling elements and races is low due to the low speed of the motion, and thus the vibration produced is masked by the general runnin ....Condition monitoring of large, horizontal low speed slew bearings. Remote sensing has often been used to collect vibration data .To date, no current analysis technique has produced results that appear consistent due to the low speed (less than 1 Hz), and the acyclic characteristic of the rolling element anti-friction bearing.
The contact vibration energy between rolling elements and races is low due to the low speed of the motion, and thus the vibration produced is masked by the general running vibration and is not readily distinguishable from the background vibration of the rotating structure. The aim of this project is to use remote sensors to collect information about the state of horizontal slew bearings and develop an analysis technique that will predict the short to medium term behaviour of horizontal slew bearings. The technique has the potential of saving $3.2 million in loss production per an unplanned breakdown of a slew bearing in a steel plant.
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Roll bite lubrication in hot strip rolling. Roll bite lubrication has been applied in hot strip rolling with significant cost savings in reduced rolling force, reduced roll wear and increasede productivity. However the mechanics of roll bite lubrication in the interface is not well understood due to the high temperature of the strip, scale oxide on the surfaces and contact asperities. It is known how the surface roughness is generated after rolling. This proposed project will develop a model to ....Roll bite lubrication in hot strip rolling. Roll bite lubrication has been applied in hot strip rolling with significant cost savings in reduced rolling force, reduced roll wear and increasede productivity. However the mechanics of roll bite lubrication in the interface is not well understood due to the high temperature of the strip, scale oxide on the surfaces and contact asperities. It is known how the surface roughness is generated after rolling. This proposed project will develop a model to simulate the roll bite lubrication process, to determine the roughness transfer from the roll surface to the strip surface, and optimise roll bite lubriation process.Read moreRead less
Analysis of complex systems for the condition monitoring of a rolling mill. A knowledge of the relationships between input variables and measured output states of a rolling mill should enable significant improvements to dimensional stability of the product being produced and to an increase in availability of the rolling mill. The aim of this project is to develop a methodology for developing relationships between input variables that contribute to the measured output states of fully assembled r ....Analysis of complex systems for the condition monitoring of a rolling mill. A knowledge of the relationships between input variables and measured output states of a rolling mill should enable significant improvements to dimensional stability of the product being produced and to an increase in availability of the rolling mill. The aim of this project is to develop a methodology for developing relationships between input variables that contribute to the measured output states of fully assembled rolling mill stands and this enable the operator to identify and avoid undesirable mill states.Read moreRead less
Contact mechanics in hot strip rolling. The mechanics of roll bite contact in hot strip rolling in the interface is not well understood due to the high temperature of the strip, scale oxide on the surfaces, contact asperities and lubrication mechanism of emulsion entrained in the roll bite. It is not known how the strip surface roughness is generated after rolling. This proposed project will develop a model to simulate the contact of the roll bite and to determine the quality of the surface roug ....Contact mechanics in hot strip rolling. The mechanics of roll bite contact in hot strip rolling in the interface is not well understood due to the high temperature of the strip, scale oxide on the surfaces, contact asperities and lubrication mechanism of emulsion entrained in the roll bite. It is not known how the strip surface roughness is generated after rolling. This proposed project will develop a model to simulate the contact of the roll bite and to determine the quality of the surface roughness transfer from the roll surface to the strip surface. The outcome would be significant cost savings in reduced rolling force, increased roll life, minimal surface defects and increased productivity.Read moreRead less
Developing Intelligent Systems for Manufacturing Control. The primary aim of this project is to develop control systems that interactively learn from the environment to increase the capabilities and performance of manufacturing processes. To achieve this we propose to develop manufacturing control systems that can automatically adapt to the changes in the process under control. Since these systems are expected to operate with limited or no human intervention, they need to be intelligent enough t ....Developing Intelligent Systems for Manufacturing Control. The primary aim of this project is to develop control systems that interactively learn from the environment to increase the capabilities and performance of manufacturing processes. To achieve this we propose to develop manufacturing control systems that can automatically adapt to the changes in the process under control. Since these systems are expected to operate with limited or no human intervention, they need to be intelligent enough to be able to learn from a changing environment and adapt correspondingly in order to achieve and maintain performance objectives.
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