Wireless Vibration Monitoring System for Milling Process

The implementation of industrial revolution 4.0 in manufacturing industries is necessary to adapt to the rapid changes of technologies. The milling process is one of the common manufacturing processes applied in the industries to produce engineering products. The vibration that occurs in the milling process can disturb the continuity of the process. The wired vibration monitoring system implemented in the manufacturing process needs to be replaced with the wireless monitoring system. Hence wireless vibration monitoring system is developed to solve the problem with wired monitoring systems where tucked cable and high cost are the main challenges of the wired monitoring system. The wireless monitoring system setup is built using three components: sensor node, monitoring node, and base station. Milling experiments with various depths of cut, feed rate, and spindle speed were conducted to examine the performance of the wireless monitoring system. The results indicate the wireless system shows similar data recorded by the wired system. The wireless vibration monitoring system can identify the effect of milling parameters such as depth of cut, feed rate, and spindle speed on the vibrations level. The effect of cut depth is more significant than spindle speed and feed rate in the defined parameters

Surface Roughness Analysis on Sheet Metals During AWJ Machining Using Low Pressure

The present study discusses the effect of abrasive waterjet machining (AWJ) parameters on surface roughness during cutting of sheets metals of stainless steel 304 and pure copper. A relatively low hydraulic pressure below 150 MPa was used. Several machining parameters were chosen namely pressure, traverse rate, stand-off distance and abrasive mass flowrate. It was found that increasing the pressure leads to an increase in the surface roughness. Varying other parameters did not clearly show any trends on the surface roughness. A higher surface roughness happened during AWJ machining of stainless steel 304 compared to pure copper due to its former higher hardness. The surface roughness at the upper region closer to the top surface is higher than the bottom section regardless of machining parameters. Furthermore, embedded particles are more dominant in pure copper than stainless steels 304. It can be concluded that a low water pressure in AWJ machining process can be used to cut sheet metals successfully with acceptable cutting quality

DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRIC DISCHARGE MACHINING (EDM) USING SOLENOID ACTUATOR FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE

The increasing number of materials with variation in properties, especially hard-to-cut, leads to the need for an advanced machining method to process such material. Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) is one of the advanced machining methods widely used for hard-to-cut alloys. The EDM process uses an electrode as the conductor of electrical current to erode the metal alloys and is supported by other components. Due to EDM's high cost and high energy consumption, developing a low-cost EDM and simpler EDM setup is necessary, especially for educational purposes in laboratory activity. However, the EDM design and setup required to produce the desired “spark” have always been a challenge for researchers and manufacturers. In this research, a small-scale EDM setup was built. A solenoid actuator is used to generate simple mechanical movement. The movement is used to control the gap between the workpiece and the electrode to produce a spark. The solenoid actuator is used because of its low cost and simple mechanism. The proposed EDM setup is successfully fabricated and works appropriately by generating sparks and a hole cavity during the process. There are six cavity holes produced in mild steel workpiece during the experiments with various parameters such as current (5A, 7A, and 10A) and frequency (10 Hz and 20 Hz). The varied parameter shows that the higher current and lower frequency removed more materials. In contrast, the higher frequency produced a better quality of the cavity hole. However, the lack of flushing quality on the material debris during the process results in the formation of excess metals around the edge of the hole.

A review on peening processes and its effect on surfaces

Surface treatment methods are widely used in various industries to improve the material performance and change their physical properties. The methods can be categorised according to the nature of the operation as mechanical, chemical, electrochemical and case hardening processes. Mechanical surface treatment methods are mainly utilised to add compressive residual stresses in surface layers thus usually improving the life of engineering components. Among various mechanical surface treatment methods, peening process is common in treatment nature by treating the surface using mechanical means. Three peening processes, namely shot peening (SP), laser shock peening (LSP) and waterjet peening (WJP) are selected to be the focus of the present paper due to their similarity based on impulsive effect to the surface by the input force through unguided tools in repetitive irregular manner without any oscillating or vibrating movement of tools. A comprehensive review is presented to discuss each of the peening processes and their effects on the surface integrity in terms of the topography, mechanical properties and microstructural changes. The investigation includes the discussion on the existing advantages, disadvantages and technological barriers of peening technologies for industrial applications. Detailed examples of recent advances in the peening methods are also discussed. The results show that the SP method produces more roughness as compared to LSP and WJP methods. However, fatigue strength is better without considerable changes in roughness and corrosion after LSP and WJP treatments. It can be concluded that the peening processes can improve the material performance with acceptable qualities for in-service application in industries

Mechanical Performance Evaluation of Al2O3–ZrO2–Ti Composite Materials

The applications of ceramic based materials is becoming a trend due to their important mechanical and microstructural properties. This work evaluates the mechanical properties of ceramics composite of Al2O3–ZrO2 reinforced with Titanium (Ti) particles. The material is known for the application of biomedical devices due to the optimized functional properties. The mechanical properties of Al2O3–ZrO2 composites can be enhanced by incorporating Ti. To measure the mechanical properties, standard size samples of the ceramic composites were fabricated through powder processing method to consolidate the powders. A varying composition of Ti ranging from 5–45% by volume was used. Then, the measurements were conducted on each sample to determine the physical and mechanical performance of the composite. As a result, the newly produced composite materials with 75 vol.% Al2O3 + 10 vol.% ZrO2 + 15 vol.% Ti showed better physical and mechanical properties than the other compositions based on the requirements in the biomedical applications

Deburring method of aluminum mould produced by milling process for microfluidic device fabrication

The existence of top burrs in micro-scale features produced by milling process can deteriorate the surface quality of a product. Ductile metals, such as aluminum alloys, are prone to suffer from top burrs formation after a slot-milling process. A brief review on the state-of-the-art of burr removal process in micro-scale milling is provided in this paper. Various deburring methods were reportedly able to remove the burrs in micro-scale features, however a much simpler method is still needed. In the present work, a deburring process by stainless steel end brushing is introduced for aluminum mould used in microfluidic device fabrication. The micro-scale features are produced by slot-milling process followed by the deburring process. The deburred moulds are then visually observed using optical microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the average surface roughness and its features profile are measured using 3D Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope. As a result, the proposed deburring method can successfully remove the top burrs, as indicated by a height reduction of about 21% due to the removal action by the brush. Hence, a burr-free embossing mould with complex shape channel features can be produced by milling and by applying a simple deburring process using stainless steel end brush

Exploring the chemical properties and microstructural characterisations of hybrid asphalt binders for enhanced performance

Approximately 3 billion metric tonnes of garbage involving industrial and agricultural waste is expected to be generated by 2030, posing a significant environmental hazard. Notably, recycling or reusing asphalt modification components (palm oil fuel ash (POFA), garnet waste, and sawdust) in pavement construction encounter ongoing challenges. This study comprehensively assessed the chemical characteristics and microstructure analysis of individual wastes and various hybrid asphalt binder and mixtures incorporated with these components. The mixture consisted of asphalt grade 60/70 blended with varying amounts (0%, 3%, 6%, and 9%) of POFA, garnet waste, and sawdust. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were also employed to examine the chemical compositions of the raw waste materials. Meanwhile, the microstructure properties of various hybrid asphalt binder mixtures were analysed utilising Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Consequently, this study presented that the correlation between the 6% POFA, 6% garnet waste, and 6% sawdust substantially impacted the chemical composition and morphology of the mixture. The findings of this study demonstrated that including POFA, garnet waste, and sawdust in a hybrid asphalt binder and mixture could enhance performance and engineering properties

Characterization and stability of ZrO2-SiO2 nanofluids from local minerals Indonesia as green nanofluids to application radiator cooling system

In the last few years, there has not been much research on green nanofluids that come from material resources such as parts of palm oil and natural zircon sand. Green nanofluids need to be developed to improve heat transfer performance. The characterization of nanoparticles made from the synthesis process and the stability of ZrO2-SiO2 Nanofluids-W/EG, different volume concentrations were investigated. The experiments carried out were characterization of nanoparticles using SEM and FTIR, the stability of green nanofluid was investigated for a volume concentration of 0.1-0.3%, using UV-Vis, Zeta potential and sedimentation observation. The results show that the size of Nano-Zircon particles of 32.984-38.465 nm and Silicate nanoparticles with of 44.002-50.444 nm. The stability of ZrO2-SiO2 Nanofluids-W/EG made with the UV-Vis method is stable up to 30 days after preparation with a sonication time of 2 hours with a value of 70-80%. The zeta potential evaluation performed for green ZrO2-SiO2 Nanofluids-W/EG obtained a value of 45.37 mV with good stability classification. Sedimentation from this visual observation obtained the absence of agglomeration after 30 days

Micro-Milling of Thin Mould for Continuous Productions of Polymer Microfluidic Devices

This paper reports an attempt to produce thin embossing mould by using micro-milling process and subsequently tested in fabricating polymer microfluidic devices using hot roller embossing process. Two embossing moulds with thicknesses of 260 μm (thin) and 500 μm (thick) made of Al6061-T6 are fabricated using micro-milling process. The thin and thick moulds subsequently will be used for hot roller embossing process and conventional hot embossing process respectively to produce PMMA microfluidic devices. The performance of the micro-milled thin embossing mould in the hot roller embossing process will be compared with the thick mould used in hot embossing process. The diamond end-mill tool is used for finishing the profile in order to reduce burr formations. The adhesive will be used to hold the thin and thick workpiece in the fabrication of moulds. The experimental results show that the micro-milling is capable to create the features necessary for a microfluidic in thin embossing mould. The thin embossing mould with thickness of about 160 μm with feature height of about 100 μm has been produced successfully using the micro-milling process. The surface quality of the thin embossing mould produced by micro-milling and held using adhesive is comparable with the thick mould

Finite Element Study on The Effect of Substrate Properties in Micro-cutting Thin Workpiece Materials

The cutting mechanism and residual stress profile of the micro-cutting thin workpiece are affected by the interaction of the thin workpiece and the fixture (substrate) underneath it similar to that observed in the nano-indentation and nano-scratching of thin film. The appropriate substrate properties are necessary especially to avoid detachment during machining and to minimize deformation and warping of the machined thin workpiece. Thus, the investigations of the influence of substrate properties on micro-cutting thin workpiece are essentially to be conducted. The finite element study of orthogonal micro-cutting of thin Al6061-T6 is presented here. The simulations were conducted to study the residual stress profile across the thickness of the machined thin workpiece at various workpiece thicknesses and various substrate (adhesive) elastic properties. Simulations results show that as the machined workpiece become thinner, the stress is more significant not only on the machined surface but also it can reach the bottom of the workpiece. The stiffer substrate produces less variation of the stress across the workpiece thickness while more compliant substrate produces broader stress variation as the workpiece become thinner. The results show the significant effect of the workpiece thickness and the substrate properties on the stress profiles in the micro-cutting of thin workpiece