ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME317-02 Design for Manufacturing

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Names: Caroline DeBrota, Trevor Nong, Phillip Tyler

CM: 2537

Assignment: Mini-Project 5: Identifying Manufacturing Processes

Due Date: 11/10/2017

1. Metal Pipe/Cover Piece

Figure 1. A right-hand side view of the pipe fixture.

Figure 2. A left-hand side view of the pipe fixture.

Figure 3. A bottom view of the pipe fixture.

 # Evidence of Manufacturing Methods

1 Multiple parting lines (Figures 2 and 3)—this is possible with investment casting

2 Many individual wax mold pieces attached together—this explains the little “melty” lines
near some of the parting lines

3 Nice surface finish—investment casting allows for better surface finishes than sand-
casting

4 No ejector pin marks—indicates that it was not die-cast

5 Undercuts

Most likely Manufacturing Method: Investment Casting

 2. Plastic Laboratory Squeeze Bottle

Figure 4. A side view (top) and bottom view (bottom) of the laboratory squeeze bottle piece

# Evidence of Manufacturing Methods

1 Constant wall thickness—consistent with the extrusion of a thin plastic tube (the
“parison”) that is then clamped into a mold and blown into shape via extrusion blow
molding

2 Parting lines on sides of bottle that extend all the way across the bottom face of the
bottle (shown in Figure 4)—this is seen because the warm/soft extruded parison is
closed into a two-part straight-pull mold that surrounds it on the sides and bottom
before blowing

3 Plastic material—extrusion blow molding can only be achieved with plastic/polymer

materials. This is likely made of polyethylene.

4 Hollow—extrusion blow molding can only be used to produce hollow parts

5 The bottle design is drafted and has angled sides to be easily made in and released
from a two-piece straight-pull mold like those used in extrusion blow molding (Figure
2)

Most likely Manufacturing Method: Extrusion Blow Molding

 3. Circular Metal Ring Piece

Figure 5. Circular Metal ring piece viewed from upper angle

# Evidence of Manufacturing Methods

1 No draft angle (Figure 5)—no draft is required on the sides of the part because the
powdered metal pressing machine can push the packed metal powder out of the die cavity
with its punches without relying on part geometry to assist in part release from the cavity

2 Low aspect ratio—the part is not very “tall” compared to how wide it is. This is nice for
powdered metal forming as it reduces the likelihood of the part breaking in its “green
state” (that is, when the powdered metal has been mechanically pressed together but not
sintered or passed through the oven yet)

3 No undercuts or re-entrant angles—these cannot be achieved via powdered metal forming

processes, as the sides of the forming punch need to be able to pull away from the pressed
piece without destroying it

4 “Flat lands” on edges of part (circled on Figure 5)—feathered edges (that is, where a 90
degree corner is chamfered by an angle) are not recommended for powdered metal design
as they would require an ultra-precise die with a knife edge that would be extremely likely
to break during the pressing process. As such, there are “flat lands” visible on the piece
(chamfers followed by a small flat “lip” that makes a sharp edge on the piece)

5 Sharp external corners (Figure 5) created by the punch-and-die forming process of

powdered metal forming.

6 Excellent surface finish—powdered metal forming allows for the creation of parts with a
fine surface finish that do not need secondary processing.

Most likely Manufacturing Method: Powdered Metal Forming (powdered metallurgy)

4. Clear Plastic Safety Shell Cover

Figure 6. Part displayed from angle between front view and top view.

Figure 7. Part displayed from angle between top view and right view.
 # Evidence of Manufacturing Methods

1 Parting line consistent with thermoformed part; the part can be pulled or vacuumed over
the mold from a single sheet.

2 The part is relatively large; the cheapest way to make something of this size is to
thermoform it.

3 Aspect ratio consistent with thermoforming parts; depth-to-draw ratios does not exceed
1:1 (Figure 6).

4 Corners are rounded (Figure 7) off to allow for material to flow freely and to prevent
excessive thinning of the material.

5 Draft is applied to the shape (Figure 7) so as to minimize undercut and allow for easy
separation between the part and mold.

6 Wall thickness is constant.

Most likely Manufacturing Method: Thermoforming

5. Metal Medical Bracket Fixture

Figure 8. Part displayed from angle between top view, front view, and side view.
 Figure 9. Detail view of one of the interfacing surfaces.

Figure 10. Part displayed from angle between top view and side view.
 # Evidence of Manufacturing Methods

1 Part exhibits tightly-controlled, precise features.

2 Part has a very fine surface finish.

3 Milling tracks are plainly visible (Figure 8 and Figure 9) on the surfaces of the part.

4 Part displays several small, flat features with fine detail (Figure 8).

5 Tooling runout is present in the corner radius of the part (Figure 8 and Figure 8).

6 Highly-detailed threaded holes suggest secondary machining process such as thread

tapping (Figure 9).

Most likely Manufacturing Method: Milling; Secondary Machining Processes

6. Blue-Green Plastic Bottle

Figure 11. Side view of plastic bottle.

Figure 12. Top view of plastic bottle.

 Figure 13. Bottom view of plastic bottle.

# Evidence of Manufacturing Methods

1 Internal Undercut features—indicates that the bottle was blown into its final form, as a
straight-pull mold would not be able to pull straight out of this shape without getting
stuck on the undercut features

2 Fine detail/good surface finish with uniform cross-section

3 Parting line on sides (Figure 11) that does not extend all the way across the bottom
(Figure 13)—indicates that the piece was made from a “blank” (produced via injection
molding) that was blown into a die mold

4 Injection molding Gate on bottom (where the “blank” for the bottle was made via
injection molding)

5 Part is hollow with thin walls (consistent with injection blow molding)

Most likely Manufacturing Method: Injection Blow Molding