X1 Awareness of industrial processes
Initial skills rating **
I worked in mechanical engineering factories for the first eleven years of my life. This combined with study taught me a lot about industrial processes. I have a good grasp about the division of labour and mass production.
29th October 2011 ***
Having researched information on the manufacturing processes of plastics for our presentation, I now have a good understanding on the following processes:
· Injection moulding of thermoplastics
· Extrusion blow moulding of thermoplastics
· Extrusion moulding of thermoplastics
· Compression moulding of both thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics
· Vacuum forming of thermoplastics, both classroom and industrial processes
· Dome blowing
· Line bending
· Dip coating
· Powder coating
· Welding of plastic
Interesting findings:
Vacuum forming
The main difference between vacuum forming in the classroom and the industrial version is the use of compressed air. By pulling a vacuum the soft plastic is pulled down onto the mould. With compressed air being applied to the opposite side of the plastic the air pushes the plastic down onto the mould. This process enables more intricate detail to be obtained
Welding
I did not know plastic could be welded let alone there be so many different types of welding process.
You have:
· Ultrasonic welding
· Hot plate welding
· Orbital vibration welding
· Vibration welding
· Laser welding
What these processes all have in common is the generation of heat, be it due to friction as in orbital vibration welding or due to a directed beam from a laser welder.
I also learned there is such a thing as fillet shaped welding rod. They say you learn something new every day and I certainly did.
Having researched information on the manufacturing processes of plastics for our presentation, I now have a good understanding on the following processes:
· Injection moulding of thermoplastics
· Extrusion blow moulding of thermoplastics
· Extrusion moulding of thermoplastics
· Compression moulding of both thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics
· Vacuum forming of thermoplastics, both classroom and industrial processes
· Dome blowing
· Line bending
· Dip coating
· Powder coating
· Welding of plastic
Interesting findings:
Vacuum forming
The main difference between vacuum forming in the classroom and the industrial version is the use of compressed air. By pulling a vacuum the soft plastic is pulled down onto the mould. With compressed air being applied to the opposite side of the plastic the air pushes the plastic down onto the mould. This process enables more intricate detail to be obtained
Welding
I did not know plastic could be welded let alone there be so many different types of welding process.
You have:
· Ultrasonic welding
· Hot plate welding
· Orbital vibration welding
· Vibration welding
· Laser welding
What these processes all have in common is the generation of heat, be it due to friction as in orbital vibration welding or due to a directed beam from a laser welder.
I also learned there is such a thing as fillet shaped welding rod. They say you learn something new every day and I certainly did.
Now for the bits I enjoyed learning the most.
That Lego dies are used 5 million times before they need to be replaced.
That the Lego factory produces over 1 billion bricks a year.
That every piece of scrap following the injection moulding process is ground down and reused.
That the Lego factory produces over 1 billion bricks a year.
That every piece of scrap following the injection moulding process is ground down and reused.
Why did I enjoy learning these facts?
Was it because it was a product I was familiar with? something I could relate to or was it because I imagined every person in Britain would be able to relate to that information too.
What next?
There are loads more industrial processes to be learned about. I suggest I just keep looking and learning about them.
Plastics presentation
1st November 2011
Having researched many industrial processes for our plastics presentation we decided to stick to probably the most important ones for teaching in schools. I had found many more and would have like to including plastic coating techniques but we were limited by time.
Having researched many industrial processes for our plastics presentation we decided to stick to probably the most important ones for teaching in schools. I had found many more and would have like to including plastic coating techniques but we were limited by time.
More industrial processes
21st November 2011
At the D&T show I was introduced to lots of CNC machines, laser cutters but the new one for me was the 3D printer. Ok it is possible I just liked it because of the literal rainbow they had used to create a caged roller bearing but i was fascinated to hear how layers of powder, colour and binder were sprayed to build up coloured 3D model. Ok maybe I can forgive computers being such unreliable, over sensitive bits of technology for this.
Oh my word I just went onto YouTube to ensure I had remembered the method correctly only to find you can use 3D printing for metal! With the edition of heat to the process, fragile sculptures can be made from base materials like powdered stainless steel. Once dried this porous fragile sculpture is encased in a bed of alumina oxide and powdered bronze which when heated the bronze is soaked into the sculpture like water. The resulting product can then be coated with precious metals such as gold if desired. WOW!
I couldn't stop there, I went on to watch a plastic flute being made and observed designs for instruments that perhaps could not be manufactured any other way or at least nowhere near as easily.
These machines have apparently been in use by the car industry for rapid prototyping since the eighties. I joined the wrong industry!
I feel like I have been living under a rock, somehow missing out on all this exciting technology. I just want to learn more!
12th February 2012 ****
As different opportunities have arisen over the last couple of months I realise I am quite confident talking about manufacturing processes and sharing amongst our university group I would even go so far as to say I am quite excited and passionate about this topic, probably because my initial training and work was in manufacturing.
As different opportunities have arisen over the last couple of months I realise I am quite confident talking about manufacturing processes and sharing amongst our university group I would even go so far as to say I am quite excited and passionate about this topic, probably because my initial training and work was in manufacturing.
That's progress
July 2012
I have just replaced a still image below taken from a YouTube clip with a hyper link to the YouTube clip itself. I just did not have the IT skills all those months ago. Now it comes fairly easily.
I have just replaced a still image below taken from a YouTube clip with a hyper link to the YouTube clip itself. I just did not have the IT skills all those months ago. Now it comes fairly easily.
The making of veneer
May 2012
In passing conversation our new technician at university asked if I knew how wood veneer was made. He gave me an explanation that sounded incredible. I decided I wanted to know more so I went in search of information on YouTube. There I found the most wonderful and interesting footage of the industrial procedure of not only the technique described to me by the technician but many more. I was absolutely amazed.
In passing conversation our new technician at university asked if I knew how wood veneer was made. He gave me an explanation that sounded incredible. I decided I wanted to know more so I went in search of information on YouTube. There I found the most wonderful and interesting footage of the industrial procedure of not only the technique described to me by the technician but many more. I was absolutely amazed.
Skills rating *****
Although I am not claiming I know about loads of different industrial processes I do feel quite confident about those that I have learned about. I know I find the process of manufacturing really interesting. I also know Youtube is a really good source of information and in this area of the subject I soak up the information like a sponge.
I did not document it at the time but I found the Plastipedia website an excellent source of information. This was where I learned all about the different types of welding processes for plastics. The site links to manufacturers and gives good clear explanations.
I did not document it at the time but I found the Plastipedia website an excellent source of information. This was where I learned all about the different types of welding processes for plastics. The site links to manufacturers and gives good clear explanations.