Materials Science Forum Vols. 505-507

Abstract: To be successful in this globally competitive and rapidly changing situation, organizational changes, which must be consistent with the implementation of manufacturing technology, are required. This study proposes that human factors in the organization have improved the implementation effects of AMT. Based on a brief review of relevant literatures, three categories including twelve indicators are concluded as valid and reliable measures of the implementation effects of AMT. Using the result from a survey of 87 equipment manufacturing firms in the northeast of China, a stepwise regression analysis is conducted to investigate the diversity influence on AMT implementation by human factors. The results show that training, equitable reward and team cooperation have positive effect on operational performance; equitable reward, empowerment and team cooperation are positively correlated with organizational and managerial performance; the relationship between team cooperation and competitive performance is significant and positive.

Abstract: Aerospace industry is a value-added and technology integrated industry. Sheet metal parts are important portion of aerostructures. The sheet metal production line combines five different routing types together. This study tries to make a comparison between job shop layout and cellular layout with lean concept. According to precedence diagram of sheet metal fabrication process, the model and measurement indicators can be constructed. The simulation software SIMPROCESS is then used to simulate the real-world cases under dynamic conditions. After the verification and validation process, we analyze the results that collected by simulation and provide the suggestions for the layout of aerospace sheet metal process.

Abstract: In this study, the reliability-dependent hazard rate function is used to describe the reliability of the cutting tools. The reliability equation has been evaluated via normalization treatment. The reliability function of the cutting tool under different cutting speed can be obtained respectively by using this reliability equation. The experimental results proved that the reliability equation evaluated from this study is accurate and feasible.

Abstract: Most production planning models assume that the backorder or advance purchase price is the same as the regular purchase price. In practice, since most advance purchase customers may expect to purchase items at discount prices, the purchasing behavior of these customers may differ from the regular purchase customers. In the present paper, we developed a production planning model for dealing with a manufacturing system with an advance purchase discount. The objective of the paper is to maximize the unit time profit by jointly determining the advance purchase discount rate and the size of a production run.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the structure of metal cans squeezing devices with eight links based on the methodology of creative design. First, the design requirements and design constraints are specified based on the characteristic of existing squeezing devices. Then, specializing with respect to (8, 10) generalized chains, the atlas of specialized feasible chain is generated. Furthermore, the atlas of new design is obtained through the process of particularization. Finally, the atlas of new design with single toggle effect is also synthesized. In addition, the feasibility of the design is verified by a prototype machine testing.

Abstract: This paper presents geometric design procedures for a new type of roller drive. Here, the pinion has two circularly arrayed cylindrical teeth instead of one circularly arrayed. This proposal is based on coordinate transformation and envelope theory, from which the epicycloid profiles are obtained. The centers of the cylindrical teeth of the pinion are determined by equidistant offset a distance 3 ρ (pinion-tooth radius). The real pinion profiles are the equidistant curve of the epicycloid profiles. Two examples are presented to demonstrate that this approach is feasible.

Abstract: The essence of the multidisciplinary collaborative design problem (MCDP) is the coordination of the design variables among multiple disciplines on the basis of the all constraints of all disciplines. There exist some problems such as the early detection of design conflicts and the determination of the consistency domains of the design variables, etc. The resolving of these problems can help designers avoid bad decision-making, reduce the design iteration and improve the design efficiency. Aiming at the problems, this paper proposes a constraint-net model to describe and manage all the design variables and constrains of all disciplines, discusses the reformulating method of the MCDP to improve computation efficiency, and develops the interval propagation algorithm to determine the consistency domains of the design variables, etc. A gear drive is taken as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Abstract: This paper introduces a novel controllable mechanical metal forming press, which is a 2-DOF planar mechanism driven by a large constant speed motor and a small servomotor. The constant speed motor provides the main power while the servomotor tunes the trajectory and velocity of the punch in order to realize the controlled punch motion. The new press needs high accuracy, repeatability and resolution to guarantee the controlled punch motion. Improving manufacturing and assembly process could help it, but sometimes is very difficult and not feasible. Therefore parameter calibration has a significant effect on the accuracy, repeatability and resolution of the press. In this work, a simple parameter calibration method is presented without using complex and precise metrology system. Experiment results indicate that this kind of calibration method is fast, easy, accurate and cost effective.

Abstract: Based on the nutation movement of a rotating coin on a table, the formulae for calculating the transmission ratio between two nutation gears is developed. The tooth profile with a double circular arc for helical bevel gears in nutation drives is proposed and then the meshing equation during the nutation process and the universal equation of the crown gear tooth surface with helical double circular arc profiles are obtained based on the gear meshing theory. Further, the modeling for nutation drives with the proposed profile is carried out in a virtual working process.

Abstract: The rapidly growing concern about environmental and resource protection have stimulatedmany industrial sectors to solve the disposal problems of used products. The recovery processes canbe simply categorized into material recovery and product/component recovery. Material recoverymostly involves disassembly for separation and processing of materials of used products. Destructive methods such as dismantling, shredding, or chemical operations are normally used. Product recoveryincludes disassembly, cleaning, sorting, replacing or repairing bad components, reconditioning,testing, reassembling and inspecting. These recovered components/products can be reused inrepairing and re-manufacturing. That provides an opportunity in bringing the used products back to an “as new” condition. This paper utilizes the concept of non-destructive method of product recovery processes and develops an automatic disassembly system for white board marker pens. The experimental results show that the cycle time for the disassembly processes is about 3.8 second that is believed to be compatible to the desired feeding rate for manufacturing. In addition, the reused rate for the recovered components is close to 100% except the fiber-refill component.