UNIVERSITY OF MALTA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
B.ENG.(HONS.) IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Year I SEMESTER II
JUNE 2012 SESSION OF EXAMINATIONS

MFE1202 Fundamentals of Manufacturing and Machining

23rd June 2012

9.15-11.15 hours

STATIONARY: ONLY NON PROGRAMMABLE CALCULATORS ALLOWED

This paper contains FOUR questions. You are to attempt THREE questions.

1)
a. Define the term lean manufacturing and provide five examples of how this
principle can be practically implemented within a manufacturing facility.
(9 marks)
b. Define the term manufacturing capability and provide one example of how
manufacturing capability can be assessed or tracked.
(6 marks)
c. What is concurrent engineering?
(4 marks)
d. The following list states a number of manufacturing-related processes. Provide a
written (with the aid of sketches) description of the principles of operation, typical
applications, advantages and disadvantages for TWO of these processes from ANY
category.
Conventional machining processes: Milling, Broaching
Non-Conventional machining processes: Ultrasonic drilling, waterjet cutting, Electric Discharge machining
Solidification processes: Casting (metals), Injection Moulding
(plastics)
Joining processes: CO2 welding, Laser Welding
Others: Laser cutting
(14 marks)

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2)
a. You have been tasked with planning a grinding operation for a non-hardened
aluminium material. The machining time is more critical than the surface finish
requirement. Present recommendations on the following whilst justifying your
answers:
i. the grain material
ii. the grain size
iii. wheel grade (soft or hard)
iv. bond material to be used.
(10 marks)
b. Very briefly, how would you adjust the grinding wheel speed and depth of cut
parameters, wheel structure and grain size requirements, should a finishing operation
be required to improve the surface finish?
(4 marks)
c. What is the role of the bonding material used for the construction of grinding wheels?
(4 marks)
d. Consider a turning operation and answer the following questions:
i. List the three primary modes of cutting tool wear.
(3 marks)
ii. What are the two principal locations on a cutting tool where tool wear
occurs? Provide a simple sketch to illustrate.
(3 marks)
iii. Provide a labelled sketch of tool wear growth versus time for one of the wear
mechanisms/locations provided in the previous question.
(3 marks)
e. A steel rod is to be turned. The tool life decreases from 80min to 20min due to an
increase in cutting velocity from 60m/min to 120m/min. Given that the Taylor tool
life equation is VTn = C, determine the cutting velocity when the life of the tool is
40min. Assume that the cutting tool material and geometry, machining conditions and
environment, remain constant throughout the different operations.
(6 marks)

3)
a. Using a basic sketch describe the orthogonal cutting model.
(5 marks)
b. Identify the two forces that can be measured directly during a manufacturing
operation. Furthermore, sketch the force diagram illustrating the six forces involved
in orthogonal cutting, together with their resultant force and the rake, friction and
shear plane angles.
(10 marks)
c. An orthogonal cutting process adopts a rake angle of 10. The chip thickness prior to
cut and after cut are 0.25mm and 0.55mm respectively. Use this information to
determine:
i. The shear plane angle
ii. The friction angle
iii. The coefficient of friction
iv. The shear strain caused during the cut.
(12 marks)
d. A continuous chip with a Built up Edge (BUE) is undesirable due to its adverse effect
on workpiece surface finish. Explain this occurrence and provide two examples of
how the BUE can be minimised to improve surface finish.
(6 marks)
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4)
a. A 40mm blind hole is to be created using a drilling operation. The geometry of the
drill bit can be described by the following parameters: Diameter 18mm, point angle
135. A cutting speed 200mm/s and a feed of 0.3mm/rev are to be used.
i. Determine the cutting time in minutes
(5 marks)
ii. Determine the material removal rate in mm3/min
(3 marks)
iii. When considering the point angle that has been selected for the cutting
operation, would you expect the workpiece to be a soft non-ferrous or harder
material?
(2 marks)
b. With the aid of diagrams, describe in some detail and with the aid of diagrams the
differences between peripheral milling and face milling
(8 marks)
c. Briefly define the term forming when considering the machining of a feature within a
workpart geometry. Provide one example of a forming machining operation.
(3 marks)
d. A rectangular workpiece of width 80mm and length 350mm is to be machined by a
face milling operation in order to remove a depth of 4.5mm from its surface across
the whole surface area. A 100mm diameter cutter with four cemented carbide inserts
is to be used. The cutting parameters to be employed are as follows: Cutting speed of
3.5m/s, feed of 0.3mm/tooth. Determine the following:
i. Machining time required to complete one pass across the surface
(7 marks)
ii. Material removal rate during cutting
(5 marks)

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