Industrial Technology

Home > Industrial Technology > Industry Study > Technical Factors - emerging technoligies

Technical Factors

From the websites given in Activity 1, describe the processes of Stereo lithography, 3D Scanning and Water/Abrasive Jet Cutting.

Stereo lithography (Laser sintering) ‘is an additive rapid manufacturing technique that uses a high power laser (for example, a carbon dioxide laser ) to fuse small particles of plastic, metal, or ceramic powders into a mass representing a desired 3-dimensional object.’
3D scanning uses laser or optical scanning, for example, to capture the 3D geometry of an object and store it digitally (in a computer graphics programme) so it can then be manipulated, redesigned or animated for a range of graphical or manufacturing applications.
1. Water/abrasive jet cutting uses a very small nozzle to concentrate a jet of water or fine abrasive and water at very high pressures to cut through a range of materials.
2. Advantages are:
  - fast set up and programming
  - minimal clamping needed
  - machining of any 2D shape is possible
  - almost no heat generated during cutting
  - no pilot hole required to start cut
  - thick material can be cut
  - environmentally friendly
  - only one tool so no time wasted in changing cutters

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc and explain the advantages of Blu-ray discs over conventional CD or DVD formats.
A ‘blu-ray’ disc can store much more data in a smaller amount of space than a DVD with higher data transfer speeds.
1. From the site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED what does OLED stand for?
  OLED stands for ‘organic light emitting diode’.
2. List some of the advantages of this technology.
  Some of the advantages are:
  - they do not require a ‘back light’ to function therefore drawing less power to operate
  - they can be manufactured more effectively than LED or plasma screens
3. List some of the commercial uses of OLED’s.
  Some of the commercial applications could be:
  - used for small screens for mobile phones and MP3 players
  - car radios
  - digital cameras
  - ‘head up’ displays
At the following site you will read about ‘stretchable silicon’ http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch="specialsections&sc=emergingtech&id=16477
What could be some of the potential uses of this development in circuitry?
Some of the uses for 'stretchable silicon' could be:
- surgeon's gloves
- prosthetic limbs
- roll-up displays

Explain the difference between ‘incremental sheet metal forming’ and conventional methods of shaping sheet metal as outlined at:
http://www.psgtech.edu/psgias/smart_machine_tools/N%20V%20Reddy_bak.pdf
Incremental sheet metal forming uses a moving tool to shape the sheet metal instead of the use of dies which can be large and expensive for shorter runs of a product.
Using a labelled sketch, explain the process of ‘friction stir welding’ which is outlined at:
http://www.new-technologies.org/ECT/Mechanical/fsw.htm
‘Friction stir welding’ “uses the high rotational speed of a tool and the resulting frictional heat created from contact to crush, stir together, and forge a bond between two metal alloys”