ME3162/ME3162E

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

ME3162/ME3162E MANUFATURING PROCESSES

(Semester I : AY2013/2014)

Time Allowed : 2 Hours







INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:


1. This examination paper contains SEVEN (7) questions and comprises SIX (6) printed
pages.


2. Answer ALL questions.


3. This is an OPEN-BOOK EXAMINATION.


PAGE 2 ME3162/ME3162E


QUESTION 1

Figure 1

Serial no. Scale of production L A B t Material
1 100,000 1,000 50 70 5 Mild steel
2 100,000 50 50 70 10 Zinc alloy
3 100,000 1,000 6 6 1 Aluminium
4 100,000 0.5 50 70 10 Brass
5 3 50 50 70 10 Titanium alloy
6 1,000,000 50 50 70 10 Polystyrene
7 1,000,000 50 50 70 10
Melamine
formaldehyde
8 2 20 50 70 0.3 Aluminium
9 4 1000 50 70 15 Bronze
10 1,000,000 10 30 50 10 Tungsten
11 100,000 1,000 50 70 5
Polyvinyl chloride
(PVC)
12 10 500 500 500 1 Copper

Figure 1 shows a C-channel of external dimensions A by B and length L. The thickness of the
web and flanges is t. Corner radii are not important. Match the following twelve
manufacturing processes to the twelve cases above, one for each case.

A. Blanking from sheet
B. Die-casting
C. Machining from block
D. Sand casting
E. Electro-discharge Machining
F. Compression molding
G. Bending from sheet
H. Powder metallurgy
I. Plastic extrusion
PAGE 3 ME3162/ME3162E

J. Rolling
K. Injection molding
L. Extrusion, followed by tensile drawing

For your answer, just reproduce this table below and fill in the correct alphabets in the right-
hand column. Explanations are not necessary. All dimensions are in mm.

Serial no. Manufacturing Process in alphabet (A,B,C, etc)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
(24 marks)


QUESTION 2

In the previous question (Question 1), if the two horizontal flanges were separately
manufactured from the vertical web, with what method of welding would you weld the three
parts together

(a) for serial no. 5?

(b) for serial no. 8?

(c) for serial no. 9?
(6 marks)


QUESTION 3

Circular pieces of 24 mm diameter are to be blanked with a central pierced hole of 12 mm
diameter from mild steel of thickness 2 mm. Calculate the punch and die dimensions for both
blanking and piercing operations. Assume the clearance to be 10% of the thickness and the
allowance to be 0.05 mm.
(8 marks)

PAGE 4 ME3162/ME3162E


QUESTION 4

A cup of 50 mm diameter and 120 mm deep is to be drawn from 1 mm thick metal sheet
having a yield strength of 200 MPa and UTS (ultimate tensile strength) of 300 MPa. The cup
edge radius is 1 mm. Tensile tests for this very ductile metal show an area reduction of 70
percent. Show from these test results that annealing is NOT necessary between draws to
produce the cup.
(4 marks)

Show also that the cup can be produced in three draws if the percentage reduction of the final
(3rd) draw is increased just slightly. Neglect friction and progressively use Crane's Constants
of 40%, 30% and 25%.
(8 marks)

What is the punch force for the first draw?
(4 marks)


QUESTION 5


Figure 2

(a) A spur gear of roughly 5 cm external diameter (shown in Figure 2) can be
manufactured using different materials and methods, some giving excellent and some
very poor dimensional accuracy. Which one of the following is the correct order of
dimensional accuracy, arranged from the best to the worst? Speed and volume of
production are not important considerations.

(i) Injection molding, EDM , powder metallurgy, die casting

(ii) Powder metallurgy, EDM, die casting, injection molding

(iii) Die casting, injection molding, EDM, powder metallurgy

(iv) EDM, powder metallurgy, die casting, injection molding
(4 marks)
PAGE 5 ME3162/ME3162E




Figure 3

(b) Last October, our NUS Staff Club purchased a carton of 100-plus carbonated drinks.
After it was stored in their office for a month, one of the 24 cans in the carton
exploded (Figure 3) one night, spilling all its contents. Inspection showed that the
middle of one side of the cans cylindrical portion gave way. Which one of the
following do you think is the most likely reason for the explosion?

(i) The wall thickness of the can was not consistent.

(ii) The ambient temperature was too high in the Staff Club office.

(iii) The inside of the can was contaminated.

(iv) There was too much pressurized carbon dioxide in the drink.
(4 marks)

(c) Which one of the four methods is the correct one for producing a mild steel wire of 1
mm diameter for making paper clips?

(i) Hot extrude the 30 cm by 30 cm mild steel billet down to 10 mm diameter,
pickle in acid, cold roll to 1 mm diameter

(ii) Hot roll the 30 cm by 30 cm mild steel billet down to 10 mm diameter, pickle
in acid, cold roll to 1 mm diameter

(iii) Hot extrude the 30 cm by 30 cm mild steel billet down to 10 mm diameter,
pickle in acid, tensile draw to 1 mm diameter

(iii) Hot roll the 30 cm by 30 cm mild steel billet down to 10 mm diameter, pickle
in acid, tensile draw to 1 mm diameter.
(4 marks)

PAGE 6 ME3162/ME3162E


QUESTION 6

In a tool life test where the failure criteria were 0.4mm flank wear, the following data was
collected:

(a) Constant f = 0.03 and a
c
= 1.5 mm

v (m/s) 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0
T (min) 410 58 19 4.4 2.6

(b) Constant v = 1.2 m/s and a
c
= 1.5 mm

f (mm/rev) 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.07 0.09
T (min) 37 2.5 0.60 0.25 0.10

(c) Constant v = 1.2 m/s and f = 0.03 mm/rev

a
c
(mm) 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
T (min) 13 5.1 3.0 1.8 1.5

Assuming Taylors tool life equation to be of the form: T = K/ (v
1/n1
f
1/n2
a
c
1/n3
)


Determine all the constants in the above expression and estimate the tool life at the
following machining condition:

v = 0.95 m/s
a
c
= 0.65 mm
f = 0.045 mm/rev
(22 marks)


QUESTION 7

Through-away inserts are used in a turning operation to machine a steel shaft. Costing of
machining is performed based on the following data: the cost of each insert having eight cutting
edges is $5.00, the depreciation of the insert holder per insert is $0.40 and the cost of the labour
and machine time in resetting a cutting edge is $5.00. The initial cost of the lathe was
$150,000.00 which is amortized for 5 years. Machine running costs including labour and
overheads but neglecting depreciation are estimated at $10.00/hr.

The Taylor tool-life equation for this turning process is as follows: vt
0.25
= 16

where v is the cutting speed (m/s), and t is the tool life (s).

Calculate, for minimum cost conditions, the tool life, in seconds and cutting speed in metres per
second, if the machine is to be used on a (a) single-shift, 40 h/wk basis, and (b) double-shift,
80 h/wk basis. Assume 52 working weeks per year.
(12 marks)
- END OF PAPER -