INTRODUCTION TO FABRICATION ENGINEERING

WHAT IS FABRICATION ENGINEERING?

• Is a broad term referring to any process that cuts, shapes or moulds metal materials into
desired final products
• The process of building metal products using cutting, welding, bending and assembling
techniques
• Manipulation of steel to make products such as structures and machines.
THE IMPORTANCE OF METAL FABRICATION

Metal fabrication drives world economic growth. Its core function is to produce metal parts or
components that can be constructed and formed into larger machinery equipment and structures.

TYPES OF METAL FABRICATION

Metal fabrication falls into three primary categories:

• Commercial
• Industrial
• Structural
COMMERCIAL FABRICATION

This branch deals with the manufacture of commercial products used by consumers such as:

• Appliances (refrigerators, stoves etc.)

• Automobiles etc

INDUSTRIAL FABRICATION

This deals with the manufacture of equipment used for manufacturing consumer goods. For
example, mass production equipment such as:

• CNC(Computer Numerically Controlled) lathe and milling machines

• Bending machines
• Drilling machines as well as other production machines

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 STRUCTURAL FABRICATION

• Deals with the construction of structures used in the building process.

• It creates the steel structures that are required in buildings, plants bridges etc.

Figure 1: A figure showing steel structures of a building under construction. The steel structures
are joined together through metal fabrication processes

METAL FABRICATION PROCESS

The metal fabrication process goes through three main stages as illustrated below:

Designing a Metal Fabrication Job

Design of the fabrication

Job in the Drawing
Office by the Fabrication Fabrication of the Finishing and
Fabrication
EngineerJob Design job in the Assembling.
Production Factory

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  Fabrication work starts in the Drawing Office with the Fabrication Engineer designing
the job. Working diagrams are produced which will guide the artisans in the fabrication
plant. Drawings are produced using Computer Aided Design (CAD). There are many
different types of soft ware's which may be used in producing drawings nowadays.
 Sometimes a customer will come with his or her own design together with the drawings.

Finishing and assembling

• Finishing and assembling are the final steps in the engineering fabrication process.

• Various finishes can be applied e.g painting, electroplating, galvanizing, grinding, etc.

Note: Finishing helps to provide an attractive appearance as well as protecting the work or job
against effects of corrosion

Packaging

• Finally, the product is assembled and packaged. Packaging is usually determined by the
size of the job.

• In some cases, some components will require assembling on site especially where
extremely large structures are involved. As such, parts or components of the job are sent
to the site where assembling will be done.

The Process of Job Planning in a Fabrication Shop

Despite the many classifications within the metal fabrication trade, such as light
fabricators who work on materials up to 3 mm, or heavy fabricators who work on
3 mm and above, the base skills of the typical tradesperson remain the same as those
required and developed by our pioneers during the industrial revolution.
The typical metal fabrication tradesperson is still required to:
 read drawings
 job plan and
 calculate material size and mass.

They may mark out on material or develop patterns.

The fabricator may use some of the following:
 hand tools
 power tools or
 machinery.
They may cut materials, form up, assemble and join parts. These tasks are always carried
out in the same logical sequence, because it would be
impossible for example to complete the assembly without knowing what is required.

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Job planning

Jobs in a manufacturing plant may have different magnitudes in terms of demand. Some may be
very simple, while others may be very complex. It is critical to manage job planning effectively
as it has numerous benefits to the company. Poor job planning may result in huge financial
losses. In this section, we will look at the following:

 Simple Job Plan

 Complex Job Plan
 Production Sequence
What is a Job plan ?
A job plan is a prescribed sequence of tasks or events that should be performed in order to
complete a required job. A job plan is not usually required by an experienced tradesperson,
because they have learnt the processes involved and this has almost become second nature to
them. The study of job plans can, however, be very useful to students developing these skills.
The job plan process can be very simple, or made very complex.

Simple job plan

A simple job plan for the fabrication of a component or structure would be as follows.
1 Read drawing/s.
2 Make up material list and locate material.
3 Mark out components.
4 Cut components.
5 Perform machining or forming operations.
6 Assemble parts or components.
7 Weld together.
8 Check assembly.

These simple basic steps can be shown on a chart, and can also be further broken
down into smaller sub groups that show more detail. Each of the sub groups could also
be broken down into further tasks, if required.

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Table 1 A simple top To down Job Plan

1. Read drawings
• Read and understand drawings.
• List equipment and tools required.
2. Make up material list
• Decide quantities, check handling etc.
• May involve seeking out alternative materials (actual sections may
not be available) or making out a more comprehensive cutting list.
3. Mark out components
• How much time and space is required?
• What tools are required?
• What production sequence is required?
4. Cut components
• What tools are required?
• Methods to use, safety.
• Equipment required, availability, special precautions.
5. Machining and forming
• May involve drilling, punching, grinding.
• Forming by rolling and pressing.
6. Assembly
• Equipment required.
• Special techniques.
7. Welding
• Equipment required, availability, special precautions required.

These sequences or tasks can also be applied to a different type of graphic plan, such
as the table shown below.
Divide the whole task into basic steps. For each basic step, list smaller steps.

Table 2

Drawings Materials Marking Cutting Forming Assembly Welding Check

Interpret Material tools Method Equipment Bench Process Specs
List required Space Standard
Check Available methods Process Settings Lifting Weld Tools
Dimension equipment Gear preparation
s
Problem Order Checking Available Methods Equipmen Settings Pass/Fail
Solve t
Time Line Storage Settings Methods Tack
welding
Cleaning

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Complex job plan

A complex job plan is required where quality assurance is to be provided, such as that
required in standards such as the structural steel welding code or boiler and pressure
vessels. Quality control at various stages is required
in most standards or codes, and the sequence shown below is typical. Check:
 design and drawings
 materials
 personnel
 equipment
 cutting
 forming and assembly
 tacking and welding
 completion and testing.

A list of over thirty items may be used, depending on the complexity of the job

Time Line Chart

A job plan can also be also be applied to a time line chart that shows expected
completion time of each stage as required.

Table 3 Time Line Chart

DESIGN DRAWING CUTTING ASSEMBLY TACKING WELDING TESTING

JANUARY ■■■■ ■■■■
FEBRUARY ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■
MARCH ■■■■ ■■■■
APRIL ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■
MAY ■■■■ ■■■■
JUNE ■■■■

The above table shows a simple time line chart for the manufacture of a boiler system.

Production sequence

A production sequence is a series of instructions or markings that describes the

operations to be performed on a component or part prior to final assembly.

A production sequence may seem unnecessary, but in some workshops the tradesperson may be
required to perform only one task, such as marking out. Semi-skilled workers may be
used for some operations, or work may be carried out at a later time.
A simple production sequence may be a plate marked with centre lines, bend lines and hole sizes.

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 Production sequence for a plate mark up

Production sequence for plate pressing or roll up

TYPES OF STEEL SECTIONS

A wide range of steel sections are used in Fabrication Engineering. The choice of the sections
will depend on the design requirements of a particular job. Although, steel producers or
manufactures may produce certain standard sections, special arrangements may be made by
customers if they want or need a particular section which may not be very common. This can be
produced as long as the required quantities makes it cost effective for their production. Some of
the commonly used sections among others include the following:

• Angle Iron (Equal Lip and Unequal Lip)

• Flat Bars

• Sheets

• I beams

• Channel sections

• Plates

• Sheet

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 TYPE OF STEEL SECTIONS

NAME OF SECTION USES

SECTION
Z section Widely used for the construction of windows

Lip Section Used as structural components when constructing

buildings

Chanel Has many applications in the construction industry

for jobs such as on suspended ceilings, mezzanine
floors as well as brickwork .
Plate/sheet Used for the construction of boilers and containers
trailers etc. It is supplied in the following dimensions:
1200 x 2400mm

Flat Bar Used as a support material on most structural work

T section
Used a window section material

Square Tubes Have a wide range of applications in industry such as

gates, appliances such as furniture. also used for
fencing around buildings as well as other structures
in buildings. Size is specified by outside diameters as
well as wall thicknesses
Is regarded as a structural steel. It is is used for
structural purposes such as on electricty pylons,
tower lights, boosters as well as trusses for buildings

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Engineering Material Properties

Engineering material properties are very important in the design and manufacture of various
products. As such. this knowledge is very critical to a fabrication engineer. Some of the
engineering material properties which should be taken into account are:

 Hardness - Is the property which allows a material to resist wear and penetration. this
property is critical in the design and manufacture of cutting tools such as drills, milling
cutters blades of guillotines and shears etc.
 Ductility - the ability of a material to be drawn into smaller cross sections such as wires.
This property of the material is very useful in the production of thin long sections such as
rivets, rods wires etc.
 Brittleness - The ability of a material to break easily. Sometimes brittleness may not be a
very desirable property and as such the material need to be tempered to minimize its
chances of breaking in use.
 Elasticity - The ability of a material to regain shape after deformation.
 Malleability - The ability of a material to be hammered or rolled into any shape without
breaking
 Strength - Ability of a material to withstand large forces without breaking

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 Other Material Properties

 Thermal conductivity
 Toughness
 Compressive force
 Tensile strength

SUPPLY DIMENSIONS OF MATERIALS

The following are the dimensions in which most materials are supplied

Sheets and Plates - 1200 mm x 2400 mm x thickness

Bars and Rods - The standard length of most bars is 6m. Sometimes,
steel producers may supply dimensions longer than this depending on the needs of a particular
customer

IMPORTANCE OF SUPPLY DIMENSIONS AND CROSS SECTIONS

The knowledge of supply dimensions as well as types of cross sections is essential as it is useful
when one is required to purchase materials in an attempt to generate a Bill of Quantities (BOQ).
This information is also useful during design process as it helps one to identify some of the
possible sections that may be used for a particular application.

Exercise

1 Explain why the knowledge of material supply dimensions important in engineering (2)

2 (a) Name five sections in which materials can be supplied. (5)

(b) Give examples of products that can be produced by each section (5)

3( a) Define the following material engineering properties

i Strength (1)

ii Hardness (1)

iii Toughness (1)

iv Malleability (1)

v Elasticity (1)

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(b) Identify areas where each of the above property is employed in the design of engineering
products/components (5)

4 ( i) You have been tasked to design a stand for a grinding meal. Suggest giving reasons
the most appropriate materials you would use for the job. (4)

ii Using simple sketches, illustrate the stand (4)

Due Date : 18/06/21

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