Manufacturing and Design Understanding the Principles of How Things Are Made

Manufacturing and Design presents a fresh view on the world of industrial production: thinking in terms of both abstraction levels and trade-offs. The book invites its readers to distinguish between what is possible in principle for a certain process (as determined by physical law); what is possible in practice (the production method as determined by industrial state-of-the-art); and what is possible for a certain supplier (as determined by its production equipment). Specific processes considered here include metal forging, extrusion, and casting; plastic injection molding and thermoforming; additive manufacturing; joining; recycling; and more. By tackling the field of manufacturing processes from this new angle, this book makes the most out of a reader's limited time. It gives the knowledge needed to not only create well-producible designs, but also to understand supplier needs in order to find the optimal compromise. Apart from improving design for production, this publication raises the standards of thinking about producibility. Emphasizes the strong link between product design and choice of manufacturing process Introduces the concept of a "production triangle" to highlight tradeoffs between function, cost, and quality for different manufacturing methods Balanced sets of questions are included to stimulate the reader's thoughts Each chapter ends information on the production methods commonly associated with the principle discussed, as well as pointers for further reading Hints to chapter exercises and an appendix on long exercises with worked solutions available on the book's companion site: http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780080999227/