Horizontals

V12H1 Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) process creates parts by deposition of digitally controlled material layers and is currently recognized as the latest mold-less process to make complex geometry parts in aerospace, medical, energy, automotive manufacturing. Forbes reports that the additive manufacturing industry has grown to almost $12 billion in 2019. Many AM applications have reached fully certified production levels in terms of technological readiness. As of today, there are more than 300 certified AM parts around the world. The ability of AM to create complex shapes and engineer the material properties makes the application window very wide. The key aims of recent advances are larger, quicker, and broader range of materials.

V12H2 Industrial Machines, Robotics and Automation

Automation in production refers to a process in the development of mechanized production in which the control and monitoring functions previously performed by humans are transferred to instruments and automatic devices. As a fundamental rule, working production equipment i.e. machines and systems are partially automated. This means main benefits of manufacturing automation include leaner operation processes that require less energy, less material, and reduced labor waste resulting in higher productivity. This is being realized by a combination of “intelligent” machines in factories, manufacturing processes that can be carried out with minimal human intervention, robots that can work along with a human being, and machines built-in with lean manufacturing features.

V12H3 Precision / Micro-Nano manufacturing / Surface Engineering

High precision in form, dimensions, surface finish, and properties are increasingly needed to achieve complex functionality in parts and products. Miniature size (micro and nanometer) features are often needed to enhance surface properties. Micromachining finds extensive applications in developing such micro-sized features. Some of the recent trends include developing miniaturized machines to perform micromachining processes, application of lasers, electron-beams, ion-beams, and other energy beams in generating complex shapes and functional surfaces, and development of fine and ultra-fine polishing technologies to generate finely finished surfaces. Besides, surface engineering encompassing traditional architectural, decorative purposes to create wide ranging functionally protective surfaces including wear, thermal, corrosion, anti-microbial, anti-fouling, self-cleaning, and combinations thereof, plays an important role.

V12H4 Smart manufacturing, IoT, Digital manufacturing

Advances in technologies such as sensors, communication, networking, and data analytics have been tapped into by many engineering areas; effectively utilizing these technologies to improve productivity, quality, and resource utilization is necessary in the field of manufacturing. There is a constant need for manufacturing firms to be competitive, while offering the needed quality of products in a cost-effective manner. Smart manufacturing, IoT, and other digital technologies have this potential to make companies smart and better equipped to compete effectively. Gathering data via sensors, transferring and storing such data effectively via communication protocols, analyzing data in-situ and performing live monitoring, and other digital technologies offer the potential to optimize resource utilization during manufacturing operations thereby helping reduce environmental footprint and this is something the world needs to pay more attention to.

V12H5 Specialty Products

Advances in manufacturing technologies are also driven in part by challenges posed by specialized products such as those made of composite materials, aerospace and space-related components, automotive parts, and biomedical devices. Composite materials both polymer and ceramic matrix composites are the cutting edge of materials technology with applications in Aerospace, Renewable energy, and Transportation. The flight vehicle, the primary product of the aerospace industry requires up to millions of individual parts. In addition, it requires many support systems to operate and maintain the vehicle. The Aerospace industry is also allied with many industries like airlines, wireless technology, space travel, etc. Personal mobility is undergoing an unprecedented change with the rapid shift in energy source from carbon-based fuels to stored electrical energy and others (hydrogen, fuel cells). Completely new players are disrupting the market segment forcing the traditional companies to re-think their strategies. The automotive manufacturing industry must adapt to this by rapidly learning new processes to build motors, batteries, and associated vehicle structures. Manufacturing of biomedical devices involves enabling technologies such as 3D CAD/CAE/CAM, 3D printing, medical imaging & processing, VR/AR, AI/ML/DL, IoT, smart sensors, miniaturization, automation, digitization, robotics, exo-skeletons, gait analysis, biocompatible materials, tissue engineering, genomics, and proteomics.

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