The Innovative Manufacturing Technologies course aims to provide students with a solid understanding of non-conventional machining processes. The development of such innovative techniques—often driven by high-tech industrial sectors—becomes essential when the nature of the material, the complexity of the component geometry, or productivity requirements make conventional technologies unsuitable.
The course also offers an introduction to micro manufacturing, a field that has seen significant industrial growth in recent years, and to additive manufacturing techniques.
By the end of the course, students will have gained in-depth knowledge of the non-conventional technologies covered, including system configurations, key process parameters and relevant industrial applications.
The course is organised into theoretical lectures, numerical exercises, testimonials from industries and visits to local manufacturing companies.
The exam consists of two mandatory parts: a written test (two hours in duration) and an oral examination.
Only students who achieve a score of 18/30 or higher on the written test are admitted to the oral examination. The written test includes both theoretical questions and numerical exercises. The results will be published on the course’s official webpage.
The oral examination is usually held within one week of the written test. During the oral exam, students will be asked questions covering the entire course content, in order to assess their overall understanding and depth of knowledge.
1. Classification of unconventional material-working techniques. The need for developing special technologies. Classification of unconventional processes. Characterisitics of tools and machinability of materials.
2. The energy approach. tools as "band" of energy (thermal, mechanical, chemical, etc.). Interaction with the machining material. Thermal and mechanical alterations and residual tensions.
3. Unconventional manufacturing processes: Laser, Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC), High definition Plasma (HDP), Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) / Wire EDM (WEDM), Water Jet (WJ) / Abrasive WJ (AWJ), Ultra Sonic Machining (USM), Electro Chemical Machining (ECM). For each of these processes, the following aspects will be examined: basic physical principle; characteristics of tools and consumables; selection of process parameters; types of machining materials; typical process performances (Material Removal Rate MRR, surface finishing, dimensional and shape tolerance); systems; main applications in industry.
4. Additive Manufacturing: Layer-by-layer principle; classification of additive techjnologies, benefits and limitation of AM; materials and industrial applications; process selection.
