Engineered features on pyrolytic carbon (PyC) have been reported to improve the functional performance of the bio-implants. This paper is focused on the functional characterization of micro-features created on the surface of PyC. Two different types of micro-features (wide channels and arrayed holes) have been created by micro-electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM). Two other micro-features (fine channels and micro-pillars) have been created by micromilling process. Coliform bacterial strain was isolated from a sample of water and grown on all four textured. Cell growth was carried out on an unmachined surface to see the behavior of the isolated bacterial strain on the textured/non-textured surfaces. The samples were examined under SEM before and after wash to see cell growth and cell adhesion capability of the textures. The wide channels by micro-EDM show the maximum cell growth but poor cell adhesion. 184% higher cell growth has been observed on the wide channels in comparison with unmachined surface. The fine channels by micro-milling show comparatively lower growth but the cell adhesion on this surface was found excellent. 71% cells remain unwashed after washing of the surface having fine channel textures. It means that the channels structure shows the maximum cell growth and adhesion independent of machining process.

The reliability and real time of industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSNs) are the absolute requirements for industrial systems, which are two foremost obstacles for the large-scale applications of IWSNs. This paper studies the multi-objective node placement problem to guarantee the reliability and real time of IWSNs from the perspective of systems. A novel multi-objective node deployment model is proposed in which the reliability, real time, costs and scalability of IWSNs are addressed. Considering that the optimal node placement is an NP-hard problem, a new multi-objective binary differential evolution harmony search (MOBDEHS) is developed to tackle it, which is inspired by the mechanism of harmony search and differential evolution. Three large-scale node deployment problems are generated as the benCHmarks to verify the proposed model and algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that the developed model is valid and can be used to design large-scale IWSNs with guaranteed reliability and real-time performance efficiently. Moreover, the comparison results indicate that the proposed MOBDEHS is an effective tool for multi-objective node placement problems and superior to Pareto-based binary differential evolution algorithms, nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) and modified NSGA-II.

Titanium machining is one of the challenging tasks to modern machining processes. Especially fabricating microfeatures on titanium appear as a potential research interest. Electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is an effective process to generate microfeatures by anodic dissolution. Machining of titanium by anodic dissolution is different than other metals because of its tendency to form passive oxide layer. The phenomenon of progression of microfeature by conversion of passive oxide layer into transpassive has been investigated with the help of maskless EMM technique. Suitable range of machining voltage has been established to attain the controlled anodic dissolution of titanium by converting passive oxide film of titanium into transpassive with nonaqueous electrolyte. The experimental outcomes revealed that the micromachining of titanium with controlled anodic dissolution could be possible even at lower machining voltage in the range of 6–8 V. This work successfully explored the possibility of generation of microfeatures on commercially pure titanium by anodic dissolution process in microscopic domain by demonstrating successful fabrication of various microfeatures, such as microholes and microcantilevers.

Blanking is one of the high speed processes to produce flat products from sheets economically. In order to expand this process to new materials, the blanking of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/fiberglass thermoplastic composite laminates and composite/aluminum hybrid laminates was investigated. The laminates were produced by the film stacking procedure and then blanked by circular die and punches. The blanking process was done in two levels of clearance including 4% and 8% of the laminates thickness, two levels of punch speed including 40 mm/min and 200 mm/min and at two levels of temperature (room temperature and 80 °C) for both composite and hybrid laminates. The effects of the parameters on the maximum blanking force, cutting energy, and quality and precision of sheared edges were studied. Cutting mechanism for blanking in different conditions was explained. It was concluded that at room temperature, blanked composite and hybrid laminates had a high quality of sheared edges but at elevated temperature, although the maximum blanking force was reduced, the quality of sheared edge was reduced significantly.

In this study, a lithium-rich layered 0.4Li2MnO3·0.6LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 nanotube cathode synthesized by novel electrospinning is reported, and the effects of temperature on the electrochemical performance and morphologies are investigated. The crystal structure is characterized by X-ray diffraction patterns, and refined by two sets of diffraction data (R-3m and C2/m). Refined crystal structure is 0.4Li2MnO3·0.6LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 composite. The inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analysis measurement supply reference to optimize the calcination temperature and heat-treatment time. The morphology is characterized by scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscope techniques, and the micro-nanostructured hollow tubes of Li-rich 0.4Li2MnO3·0.6LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 composite with outer diameter of 200–400 nm and the wall thickness of 50–80 nm are synthesized successfully. The electrochemical evaluation shows that 0.4Li2MnO3·0.6LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 sintered at 800 °C for 8 h delivers the highest capacity of the first discharge capacity of 267.7 mAh/g between 2.5 V and 4.8 V at 0.1C and remains 183.3 mAh/g after 50 cycles. The electrospinning method with heat-treatment to get micro-nanostructured lithium-rich cathode shows promising application in lithium-ion batteries with stable electrochemical performance and higher C-rate performance for its shorter Li ions transfer channels and stable designed structure.

In the past two decades, augmented reality (AR) has received a growing amount of attention by researchers in the manufacturing technology community, because AR can be applied to address a wide range of problems throughout the assembly phase in the lifecycle of a product, e.g., planning, design, ergonomics assessment, operation guidance and training. However, to the best of authors’ knowledge, there has not been any comprehensive review of AR-based assembly systems. This paper aims to provide a concise overview of the technical features, characteristics and broad range of applications of AR-based assembly systems published between 1990 and 2015. Among these selected articles, two thirds of them were published between 2005 and 2015, and they are considered as recent pertinent works which will be discussed in detail. In addition, the current limitation factors and future trends in the development will also be discussed.

Linear friction welding (LFW), as a solid state joining process, has been developed to manufacture and repair blisks in aeroengines. The residual stresses after welding may greatly influence the performance of the welded components. In this paper, the distribution of residual stresses in Ti6Al4V joints after LFW was investigated with numerical simulations. The effects of applied forging pressure and temperature field at the end of the oscillating stages on the residual stresses within the joints were investigated. The results show that, the residual tensile stresses at the welded interface in the y-direction are the largest, while the largest compressive stresses being present at the flash root in the z-direction. Furthermore, the forging pressure and temperature field at the end of the oscillating stages strongly affect the magnitude of the residual stresses. The larger forging pressure produced lower residual stresses in the weld plane in all three directions (x-, y-, and z-directions). Larger variance, σ, which decides the Gaussian distribution of the temperature field, also yields lower residual stresses. There is good agreement between simulation results and experimental data.

Three friction welding processes are compared for temperature, stresses and strains, as well as strain rates developed in the early phases of the processes, which are essential in their successful development. These are friction stir welding (FSW), linear friction welding (LFW) and rotary friction welding (RFW). Their common characteristic is the use of friction to generate adequate energy and raise temperature locally in order to create favorable conditions for welding at the interface between two parts. Although the mode of movement is different for each one of them, welds are produced through plastic deformation. The Lagrangian and coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian numerical models developed have produced results which are in qualitative agreement with experiments and have shed a light on the commonalities of these friction welding processes.

European companies rely on advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in order to succeed in an environment of high labour costs, increasing competition and rising customer expectations. AMT implementation is often a high-risk investment. Many companies experience a misalignment between the installed functionality and production needs. There is a need for decision support in order to take into account all possible advantages and disadvantages of the technology implementation, and ensure that the technology meets the requirements of the production processes. In this article, a differentiated technology justification approach is introduced. The approach suggests a combination of strategic, financial and risk justification methods. The recommended number and type of methods depend on the integration level of the technical system under consideration, ranging from stand-alone machines to large and integrated production systems. The approach was developed based on a literature review and a case study. The application of the approach was presented in a case where several types of pipe bending technology were evaluated.

The severe internal heat generation of the motorized spindle system causes uneven temperature distribution, and will affect the vibration characteristics of the system. Based on the thermal analysis about the motorized spindle by finite element method (FEM), the thermal deformations of the spindle system are calculated by the thermal structure coupling simulation, and the thermal deformations of the rotor and the bearing units are extracted to analyze the bearing stiffness changes so that the modal characteristics of the rotor can be simulated in different thermal state conditions. And then the rotor thermal deformation experiment and the modal experiment of spindle by exciting with hammer are performed. The result shows that the thermal state of the motorized spindle system has a significant influence on the natural frequency of the rotor, which can be carefully treated when a spindle system is designed.