ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: ANTONIO COSTA

Expected Learning Outcomes

The primary goal of this course is to impart to the student an understanding of advanced processes for the production of mechanical components using the latest technologies and methods on the one hand, and of the production planning and control related techniques on the other hand. Therefore, the course will be structured by two major sections, namely Advanced Manufacturing Processes (AMP) and Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMS). At the end of the course, students will be able to approach the optimization problem concerning both bulk and metal forming processes. At the same time, they will be able to solve the decision-making problem related to the mix of products to be manufactured in a flexible production system or the one related to the workload balancing into an assembly line context.

Course Structure

The course is structured into two major sections, which refer to the manufacturing process and to the manufacturing system as well.

The former section (Advanced Manufacturing Processes) deals with the main metal forming manufacturing processes which, in some cases, will be in-depth investigated by applying both analytical methods and numerical simulations. Optimization of manufacturing processes is a key issue in the modern advanced manufacturing context. To this end, the design of experiments (DOE)-based statistical techniques will be employed to construct the mathematical model able to faithfully predict the behavior of a certain manufacturing process. Subsequently, a series of optimization procedures based on meta-heuristic algorithms will be studied with the aim of selecting the process parameters able to optimize a certain objective function.

The latter section (Advanced Manufacturing Systems) is dedicated to the study of the most advanced techniques on production planning and control of manufacturing systems. Medium-term and short-term planning strategies will be investigated for solving both balancing and scheduling problems associated to different kinds of manufacturing systems. Besides, metaheuristic algorithms will be adopted to generate near optimal solutions of the problem under investigation.

Beyond the frontal lessons, an intensive practical aspect characterizes the course of Advanced Manufacturing. Indeed, students will be involved in developing a series of project works properly supported by the supervision of the lecturer.

As for the ADP section, a series of manufacturing processes will be preliminarily studied under a theoretical viewpoint and, subsequently, the numerical simulations of the same processes will be carried out. To this end, students will be involved in the development of the dynamic simulation model related to a specific process by means of a specific FEM software. Several simulations will be executed at varying settings of the process parameters. Since every set of parameters may lead to a different response, a proper design of experiments, also supported by an effective optimization algorithm, will be adopted to select the most suitable parameters able to enhance the performance of the process at hand. Also, the latest scientific publications will be used as a benchmark for the development of the aforementioned project works.

As for the ADS section, another project work related to a short-term production planning problem for a certain configuration of manufacturing system will be assigned to students. The students will use a well-known development tool to generate the simulation model of the production system and to implement a proper optimization algorithm in order to achieve the most effective solution.  

The course entails the following activities:

-        Frontal lessons;

-        Numerical exercises on the different topics;

-        Project works (numerical simulation, design of experiments, mathematical modelling, optimization).

Whether teaching will be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

Required Prerequisites

Machining and Metal forming processes

Matlab editing

Attendance of Lessons

Mandatory

Detailed Course Content

The contents of the course can be divided into three distinct sections, as follows:

Section I: Advanced Manufacturing Processes

  • General introduction on Manufacturing
  • Fundamental of Materials: behavior and manufacturing properties
  • Testing and notes on physical and manufacturing properties of materials
  • Notes on the heat treatments of metal alloys
  • Metal rolling processes and equipment
  • Metal forming processes and equipment
  • Extrusion and drawing processes and equipment
  • Sheet metal forming
  • Rapid Prototyping processes and operations
  • Computer aided manufacturing
  • Computer integrated manufacturing systems

Section II: Advanced Manufacturing Systems

  • Introduction to scheduling and sequencing
  • Singla machine scheduling
  • Parallel machine scheduling
  • Flow shop scheduling
  • Single/mixed model assembly line balancing and sequencing

Transversal contents:

-Design of Experiments

  • Response Surface Methodology (RSM)
  • Factorial and fractional designs

-Optimization algorithms

  • Optimization using advanced optimization techniques
  • Nature-inspired evolutionary algorithms

Textbook Information

  • Kalpakjian S., Schmid S.R., Manufacturing Engineering & Technology, Pearson College,  ISBN-10 : 0133128741, ISBN-13 : 978-0133128741.
  • Kenneth R. Baker, Dan Trietsch, Principles of Sequencing and Scheduling, John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN-10 : 047039165, ISBN-13 : 978-047039

Some contents will be also derived from:

  • Raymond H. Myers, Douglas C. Montgomery, Christine M. Anderson-Cook, “Response surface methodology”, Wiley.
  • Kalpakjian S., Schmid S.R., Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, Pearson College, ISBN-10 : 0132272717, ISBN-13 : 978-0132272711.
  • Kapil Gupta e Munish Kumar Gupta “Optimization of Manufacturing Processes”, Springer-Verlag, ISBN-10 : 3030196372, ISBN-13 : 978-3030196370.

Course Planning

 SubjectsText References
1Metal forming1) - 4)
2Scheduling2)
3Process Optimization3) - 5)

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Student assessment criteria:

-        Evaluation of project work (student can be arranged in groups)             50%

-        Final oral examination                                                                          50%

 

Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, whether the conditions require it.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Q1: How many energy components characterize the extrusion process? (Quante componenti energetiche caratterizzanoil processo di estusione?)

Q2: What's the difference between open die forging and closed die forging? (Qual'è la differenza tra open-die e closed-die forging?)

Q3: What is the response surface methodology? (Cos'è un RSM?)

Q3: How many control parameters have to be set for a praticle swarm optimization? (Quanti parametri di controllo devono essere settati per un algoritmo Particle swarm optimization?)