Manufacturing Technology and Management MSc

To provide an introduction to manufacturing technology and materials. Introduce you to the key skills required to write proposals and understand how to prepare the costs. To familiarise students with teamworking, ethics and concepts. To develop your personal skills in management and team working.

• Overview of the programme and course, project management, technical writing and communication presentations, environmental issues. Learning styles, group and team working and self-study.
• Manufacturing technology, introduction to engineering materials life cycles, health, safety and environment. Research techniques including writing proposals and resourcing.

As a Master level course this module has to develop knowledge, critical scientific thinking and hands-on experiences for developing a product. A scholarly approach of product development, project management and evolution, as well as the use of the most suitable material and technology, are expected. Research appropriately into customer and market requirements and their analysis to translate the requirements into product specification.

• Introduction to Product Development (PD).

• Concurrent Engineering

• PD Tools and Methods.

• Lean Product Development

• Set-Based Concurrent Engineering (SBCE).

• SBCE Industrial Case Studies.

• PD in Knowledge-based Environment.

• Trade-Off Curves to enable SBCE.

• Tutorial PD Project.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Assess the application of product development process in lean environment and addressing global collaboration.

2. Design a process of product development based on the principles of set-based concurrent engineering.

3. Formulate the process of selection of materials and manufacturing processes.

4. Appraise the application of tools and techniques to support product development such as QFD, DFM, DFA, and FMEA.

5. Create and manage product development knowledge to solving product design and development problems and to enable trade-off between design solutions.

To give an introduction to some of the key general management, personal management and project management skills needed to influence and implement change.

• Understanding Finance and raising funding to support innovation development.

• Personal style and team contribution, interpersonal dynamics, leadership, human and cultural diversity.

• Innovation Management: managing risk and tools for innovation management.

• Introduction to ethical and social responsibilities standards: awareness of standards, relevant standards (quality, environment and H&S),  

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. 1. Assess the impact of the market and internal functional responsibilities in a company on identifying and exploiting an innovation opportunity.
2. 2. Assess the inter-relationships between functional responsibilities in a company, critically applying theoretical underpinnings of innovation to the process of managing risk and supporting the implementation of a project.
3. 3. Assess and select among the different management styles, team roles, different cultures, and how the management of human diversity can impact organisational performance.
4. 4. Interpret and analyse the structure, aspects, and tools for project management, developing a credible business case for validating a new opportunity on the market.
5. 5. Critically assess the ethical and social responsibilities within an engineering context

​To provide a detailed awareness of current and emerging manufacturing technology for high performance composite components and structures and an understanding of materials selection and the design process for effective parts manufacturing.

• Background to thermosetting and thermoplastic polymer matrix composites.
• Practical demonstrations – lab work.
• Overview of established manufacturing processes, developing processes, automation and machining.
• Introduction to emerging process developments; automation, textile preforming, through thickness reinforcement.
• Design for manufacture, assembly techniques and manufacturing cost.
• Case studies from aerospace, automotive, motorsport, marine and energy sectors.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Compare manufacturing processes employed for thermosetting resin composites and thermoplastic resin composites.
2. 2. Propose appropriate manufacturing techniques for a given composite structure/ application and identify current areas of technology development for composites processing.
3. 3. Differentiate between handling and use of prepregs and a range of fibre forms and resins for manufacture of high performance composite structures.
4. 4. Apply the design process for high performance composite structures and appraise the influence on design to the manufacturing process.
5. 5. Evaluate performance-cost balance implications of materials and process choice.

​The aim of this module is to enable you to analyse the structure and properties of materials, to relate fabrication processes with structure and properties, and assess how this determines materials properties, and apply this knowledge to materials in applications.

• Introduction to materials: Atomic structure, crystal structure, imperfections, diffusion, mechanical properties, dislocations and strengthening mechanisms, phase diagrams, phase transformations, solidification, corrosion.
• Basic and alloy steels, tensile behaviour of metals, work and precipitation hardening, recovery and recrystallisation.
• Structural steels - C-Mn ferrite-pearlite structural steels, specifications and influence of composition, heat treatment and microstructure on mechanical properties. Fracture, weldability and the influence of welding on mechanical properties.
• Corrosion Resistant Materials - Stainless steels - austenitic, ferritic, martensitic and duplex stainless steels- compositions, microstructures, properties.
• Welding and joining processes, weld metal, heat affected zones and weld cracking.
• Non-metallic Materials - Polymers and composites manufacturing issues, physical properties and mechanical behaviour. Structure and properties and applications of ceramics.
• Principles underlying electrical and magnetic properties of materials.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. ​Analyse material structures on a micro and macro scale, and correlate micro structure to mechanical performance.
2. Relate the chemical composition, microstructure and processing route for steels and non-ferrous alloys with the resulting mechanical properties.
3. Compare and contrast fracture, corrosion and welding behaviour for a variety of alloys.
4. Describe and evaluate a range of manufacturing processes for composites and ceramics and explain important properties of these classes of material with respect to typical applications.
5. Relate magnetic and electrical behaviour of materials to specific materials.

To provide you with an understanding of the principles behind some of the most recent developments in the processing of high value added components. There is a strong emphasis on high efficiency and reduced cost in the manufacture of high volume and/or high value added parts using the latest technology based around advanced fabrication, machining processes and additive techniques. The module will cover the physical principles, operating characteristics and practical aspects related to these key technologies.

• Metal cutting processes and practice.
• Abrasive machining processes and practice
• Non-conventional machining including photochemical machining and associated metal removal and addition processes.
• Micro machining and micro moulding.
• Machine tool components and machine-materials interactions, metrology.

To introduce the concepts of surface engineering and how surface engineering and coating design may be used to optimise a component’s performance .using a systems design approach.

• Philosophy of surface engineering, general applications and requirements.
• Basic principles of electrochemistry and aqueous corrosion processes.
• Friction and Wear: Abrasive, erosive and sliding wear. The interaction between wear and corrosion.
• Analytical Techniques: X-ray diffraction, TEM, SEM and EDX, WDX analysis, surface analysis by AES, XPS and SIMS.
• Surface engineering as part of a manufacturing process.
• Integrating coating systems into the design process.
• Coating manufacturing processes.
• Electro deposition, flame spraying, plasma spray, sol-gel.
• Physical vapour deposition, chemical vapour deposition, ion beam.
• Coating systems for corrosion and wear protection.
• Coating systems for gas turbines.
• New coating concepts including multi-layer structures, functionally gradient materials, intermetallic barrier coatings and thermal barrier coatings.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Demonstrate a practical understanding of surface engineering as part of the design of manufacturing process.
2. 2. Critically appraise new coating concepts. Describe and select appropriate coating manufacturing processes, giving examples of their applications.
3. 3. Select and recommend techniques to characterise surfaces and describe analytical principles.
4. 4. Describe oxidation and corrosion processes, including the factors that control the rates of corrosion. Critically discuss types of corrosion damage, the conditions under which they occur and methods of corrosion control.
5. 5. Predict the behaviour of friction and wear, including abrasive, erosive and sliding wear. Design for wear resistance, including the selection of suitable coating systems.

To introduce you to the core factors of managing operations and the concept of flow in operations.

• An introduction to manufacturing organisations and functions.

• The theory of operations, flow in manufacturing and what enables/inhibits it.

• Order winners, Order qualifiers, and competitive priorities.

• Key Performance Indicators in manufacturing.

• Product/Process matrix, facility layouts, production strategies, product families.

• Customer Demand and capacity planning, and standardization.

• Process flow diagrams, and value stream maps.

• S&OP, Master Production Scheduling, BOM, and scheduling rules.

• Push vs Pull production.

• Information systems; MRP, MPRll, ERP, and Kanban systems.

• Maintenance management strategies.

• Dimensions of Quality, Quality management frameworks, and the cost of quality.

• Roles of inventory; inventory management systems and measures.

• Lean Manufacturing.

• Class discussion of cases, exercises, and videos to support this syllabus.

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

1. Discuss the importance of the operations functions of an organisation and how operations performance can impact the success of the whole organisation.

2. Assess production and capacity management strategies that can be deployed to meet customer demand for products and services.

3. Assess the importance of inventory, maintenance, and quality management systems in achieving high levels of operational performance.

4. Determine the role of information in planning, control, and scheduling, including the role of IT systems.

5. Critique the different attributes of the Lean Production System and how they apply to contemporary operational contexts.

To develop a rigorous and logical application of tools and techniques to design and control operational systems to improve speed, quality, and cost, and achieve environmentally responsible operations.

• Six Sigma, Process capability, common and special cause variability, control charts, acceptance sampling.

• ​System thinking and methods for decision-making to enable the system change.

• ​Lean Manufacturing Frameworks such as DMAIC.

• ​Methods for customer/business requirements identification, data collection and data validation.

• ​Analysis of systems to produce simple models. PFMA. Business process fundamentals and the process review. Improvement procedures, modelling methods and process models. Performance measurement.​

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Explore and develop effective action in solving problems that an organization or business has, enabling systems to change by applying different lean production frameworks, system thinking tools, and methods for decision-making.

2. Demonstrate understanding of the current state of the process and collect baseline information on process speed, quality, and costs exposing underlying causes of problems by applying process flow tools and methods for data collection and validation.

3. Determine potential and root causes of variation that have the most effect on the critical process results, such as process lead time and process cycle efficiency, by demonstrating an understanding of Six Sigma and Statistical Process Control tools and techniques.

4. Identify opportunities for fully functional process improvement that will help achieve the project goals aligned with environmentally responsible operation by demonstrating understanding of tools and techniques for selection and testing solutions.

5. Implement the chosen solutions and explain how to develop, analyse and validate appropriate process control.

This module provides you with a general understanding of a range of issues associated with aircraft manufacturing. The module covers mostly technical, but with some management topics related to manufacturing processes and technologies. Topics include material and manufacturing process selection, modern manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing and composite manufacture.

• Key manufacturing concepts and processes.
• Manufacturing systems.
• Materials and manufacturing process selection.
• Joining technologies.
• Composite manufacture.
• Automation technologies.
• Lifecycle analysis in manufacturing.
• Manufacturing cost engineering.
• Quality engineering.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Critically evaluate and analyse manufacturing systems and their sustainability.
2. 2. Distinguish key drivers for manufacturing process selection and applying basic principles to the solution of shape/property/cost problems.
3. 3. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between design, manufacturing, assembly, and validation.
4. 4. Evaluate the capabilities and limitations of commonly used manufacturing processes.
5. 5. Debate issues related to aerospace product realization effectively in Integrated Product Development Teams.

Provide both an introduction to the theory underpinning finite element analysis, and hands-on experience using a well-established finite element software package, to understand and apply finite element analysis in the context of metal additive manufacturing.

• Introduction to finite element analysis.
  o Overview of the FEA method.
  o Concepts, procedure and terminology of FEA.
  o Advantages and general applications of FEA.
  o FEA in metal additive manufacturing.
• Theory of FEA method.
  o Mathematical theory for obtaining approximate solution.
  o Finite element formulation for solid mechanics.
  o Finite element formulation for heat transfer.
• Implementation of FEA.
  o Simplification and specification.
  o Solution techniques.
  o Assessment of results.
  o Mistakes, errors, accuracy and limitations.
• Introduction to FEA software ABAQUS
  o Pre-processing.
  o Running job and troubleshooting.
  o Post-processing.
• FEA of metal additive manufacturing.
  o Key phenomena and problems.
  o Thermal analysis.
  o Mechanical analysis.
o Other sophisticated aspects, e.g., molten pool fluid dynamics, solidification, grain growth, and solid state phase transformation.
• Practice: modelling wire arc additive manufacturing of a small metal wall using ABAQUS.

1. Appraise finite element analysis (FEA) method and its applications.

2. Evaluate considerations for applying FEA to the modelling of metal additive manufacturing.

3. Identify and discuss the limitations and errors associated with the use of FEA.

4. Demonstrate and justify a FEA approach for solving a range of mechanical and thermal problems.

5. Create a FEA model to simulate additive manufacturing process and critically assess the results.

​​​To introduce the basic principles and fundamentals techniques of computational materials with special focus on structure, properties, and processes relationships​.

• Multiscale modelling though mechanistic and data-driven approaches.
• Modelling Engineering Materials Design vs Materials Selection.
• ​Atomic Scale Methods: Density Functional Theory, Molecular Dynamics.
• ​Mesoscopic Methods: Phase-field, Cellular automata, Monte Carlo approaches.
• ​Machine learning approaches applied to materials science.
• ​Uncertainty quantification, verification, and validation through modelling and experiment integration.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. 1. Recognise systematically the concepts and principles underpinning modelling engineering materials and their applications to engineering problems.
2. 2. Distinguish modelling engineering solutions related to materials structure, properties, and processes relationships.
3. 3. Assess appropriate materials modelling techniques to address engineering challenges.
4. 4. Formulate opportunities to implement integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approaches to address engineering problems.
5. 5. Apply the principles and application of uncertainty quantification by implementing verification and validation approaches.

The aim of this module is to cover the fundamental physics of heat-source - material interaction in additive manufacturing, to then introduce various AM techniques (selective laser melting, electron beam melting, wire arc AM, blown powder). The mechanisms of the individual techniques will be explored to include the benefits, challenges, limitations and suitability of each process. Practical examples will be used throughout to enable selection of a suitable process for a particular application.

• Fundamentals of arc processing.

• Fundamental of laser/beam processing.

• Different established AM processes.

• Metal AM processes.

• AM process selection.

• Net and near net shape manufacture.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Describe various heat sources and their interaction with different feedstocks.
2. Compare the different AM processes and describe machine architectures.
3. Evaluate the different AM processes for a specific application.
4. Appraise the benefits, challenges and limitations associated with the use of AM techniques.