ME3162/ME3162E

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

ME3162/ME3162E MANUFACTURING PROCESSES (Semester I : AY2011/2012) Time Allowed : 2 Hours

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

1.

This examination paper contains SIX (6) questions and comprises SIX (6) printed pages.

2.

Answer all SIX (6) questions.

3.

This is an OPEN-BOOK EXAMINATION.

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ME3162/ME3162E

QUESTION 1

Figure 1 Figure 1 is a photograph of Vevey town by Lake Geneva in Switzerland which has a giant fork structure more than 8 m high sticking out of the water. If the fork is manufactured out of metal in one piece without any joints and not painted, what manufacturing process would you use to produce the fork structure? (2 marks) Why would you use this method of production? (2 marks) Which one of the following is the WRONG reason for using aluminium instead of mild steel, stainless steel or cast iron (a) (b) (c) (d) Aluminium is lighter than mild steel, stainless steel or cast iron Aluminum is cheaper than stainless steel Aluminum is more corrosion resistant than stainless steel Aluminum is more corrosion resistant than cast iron (4 marks) What problems would you expect if a plastic material like PVC (polyvinyl chloride) was used instead and painted to look silver? (6 marks)

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QUESTION 2 The following are three possible methods of manufacturing a gun barrel, which is essentially a medium-carbon steel tube of outer diameter 20 mm and internal diameter 8 mm: (a) The crudest method involves cold roll-forming two halves of semi-circular crosssection and arc welding the longitudinal seam. The most popular method today is to extrude a steel bar and bore through using a gun drill. Another possible but expensive method is to hot drop forge and then cold press forge the barrel, followed by boring through using a gun drill.

(b)

(c)

Describe the properties of the final products manufactured by each of the three methods. (9 marks)

QUESTION 3

Figure 2 Figure 2 shows a right-angled L channel of height D, width D and length L. The thickness of the channel is t. The parameters of production are given in Table 1 for ten different cases such that the product is seamless (i.e. manufactured in one piece). All dimensions are in mm. Neglect requirements on dimensional tolerance and corner radii.

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ME3162/ME3162E

Table 1
Serial no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Scale of production 100,000 1,000,000 300,000 5 100,000 1,000,000 50,000 2,000,000 10,000 1,000,000 3 2 L 5,000 50 50 1 0.3 2,000 50 100 500 10 50 1,000 D 80 50 70 20 70 70 70 100 10 30 50 1,000 t 10 15 10 5 10 15 10 0.3 3 10 10 100 Material Mild steel Styrofoam Zinc Stainless steel Copper Acrylic Melamine formaldehyde Aluminium Medium carbon steel Tungsten Brass Bronze

Match the following twelve manufacturing processes to the twelve cases above, one for each case. For each case, simply write down the serial number followed by the alphabet of the process that best suits the product specifications. Explanations are not necessary. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. Stamping from sheet and bending to L shape Extrusion Extrusion, followed by cold tensile drawing Wire-cut EDM (Electro-discharge machining) Transfer moulding Rolling Blanking from cold-rolled sheet Powder metallurgy Die-casting Machining from block Sand casting Foam molding

For your answer, just reproduce this table below and fill in the correct alphabets in the righthand column:
Serial no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Method

(24 marks)

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ME3162/ME3162E

QUESTION 4

Figure 3 Figure 3 shows a plastic toy rubber ducky to entertain babies and adults in bathtubs. The height is 20 cm. It is produced by rotational molding out of polyethylene. Each of the following alternatives has at least one reason why it is not a suitable manufacturing process. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Injection molding Compression molding Casting Blow molding Reinforced molding

Match the following reasons with the five alternatives: A. B. C. D. E. Cannot mass produce Too expensive and troublesome The piece will be solid and cannot float Polyethylene is a thermoplastic Product will have an entrance hole for water to seep in

For your answer, just reproduce this table below and fill in the correct alphabets in the righthand column: Serial no. 1 2 3 4 5 Reason

(10 marks)

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ME3162/ME3162E

QUESTION 5 (a) Calculate the punch and die sizes required to produce steel blanks for deep drawing a cup of diameter 55 mm and height 30 mm with sharp corner radius. The thickness of the metal sheet is 0.2 mm. Take allowance to be 50 micron and clearance to be 10% of thickness. Assume there is no ironing. (8 marks) Give two effects of providing a clearance angle for a cutting tool. (2 marks) (c) (i) (i) How does an increased rake angle affect the shear plane length? How will the power and cutting force change when the rake angle of a cutting tool is increased from 5 degrees to 10 degrees? What happens when the rake angle is increased significantly? (4 marks) (d) State two advantages of replaceable inserts compared to brazed inserts. (4 marks)

(b)

(ii)

QUESTION 6 A batch of components is to be rough turned to 50mm diameter for 500mm of their length using a feed of 0.25 mm per revolution. The Taylors Tool Life Equation for the toolworkpiece combination is: V.t0.25=30 where V is the cutting speed, in metres per second (m/s) and t is the tool life, in seconds (s). If the cost of the throw-away type insert with 8 cutting edges is $1.00 (neglecting tool holder depreciation), the cost in resetting or changing a cutting edge is $0.10, and the total machine and operator rate is $10.00/hr, calculate, for minimum cost conditions, (a) (b) (c) the tool life, in seconds (s), cutting speed, in metres per second (m/s), and production time, given the handling time for each component is 1.5 minutes. (25 marks)

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