Βεσιδεσ χοντινυινγ εφφορτ ιν δεϖελοπινγ ΜΕΜΣ−βασεδ mανυφαχτυρινγ τεχηνιθυεσ, λατεστ εφφορτ ιν Μιχρο−mανυφαχτυρινγ ισ αλσο ιν Νον−ΜΕΜΣ−βασεδ mανυφαχτυρινγ. Ρεσεαρχη ανδ τεχηνολογιχαλ δεϖελοπmεντ (ΡΤD) ιν τηισ φιελδ ισ ενχουραγεδ βψ τηε ινχρεασεδ δεmανδ ον mιχρο−χοmπονεντσ ασ ωελλ ασ προmισεδ δεϖελοπmεντ ιν τηε σχαλινγ δοων οφ τηε τραδιτιοναλ mαχρο−mανυφαχτυρινγ προχεσσεσ φορ mιχρο−λενγτη−σχαλε mανυφαχτυρινγ. Τηισ παπερ ηιγηλιγητσ σοmε ΕΥ φυνδεδ ρεσεαρχη αχτιϖιτιεσ ιν mιχρο/νανο−mανυφαχτυρινγ, ανδ γιϖεσ εξαmπλεσ οφ τηε λατεστ δεϖελοπmεντ ιν mιχρο−mανυφαχτυρινγ mετηοδσ/τεχηνιθυεσ, προχεσσ χηαινσ, ηψβριδ− προχεσσεσ, mανυφαχτυρινγ εθυιπmεντ ανδ συππορτινγ τεχηνολογιεσ/δεϖιχε, ετχ., ωηιχη ισ φολλοωεδ βψ α συmmαρψ οφ τηε αχηιεϖεmεντσ οφ τηε ΕΥ ΜΑΣΜΙΧΡΟ προϕεχτ. Φιναλλψ, χονχλυδινγ ρεmαρκσ αρε γιϖεν, ωηιχη ραισε σεϖεραλ ισσυεσ χονχερνινγ φυρτηερ δεϖελοπmεντ ιν mιχρο−mανυφαχτυρινγ.

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Polymer concentration had been identified as one of the important parameters tailoring the membrane properties. In this work, the effects of polymer concentration on the morphological and mechanical properties of membrane were investigated at three different polymer concentrations, i.e., 20, 25 and 30 wt%. The viscosity of dope solutions were determined to estimate the optimum polymer concentration.  The morphological properties of the fabricated membrane were determined using SEM whereas the mechanical properties of the membrane were investigated using tensile tester. Results show that an increase in the polymer concentration could lead to the improvement of the morphological and mechanical properties of the membrane. The tensile strength of the membrane determined for PSf-20, PSf-25 and PSf-30 are 5.73, 6.59 and 7.03 MPa, respectively whereas the elongation at break measured for the membranes are 46.99%, 69.18% and 36.27%, respectively. As shown in this work, the polymer concentration played a significant role to alter on membrane morphology and mechanical strength.

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The aim of this research is to study the effects of single-pass/ double-pass techniques on friction stir welding of aluminium. Two pieces of AA1100 with a thickness of 6.0 mm were friction stir welded using a CNC milling machine at rotational speeds of 1400 rpm, 1600 rpm and 1800 rpm respectively for single-pass and double-pass. Microstructure observations of the welded area were studied using an optical microscope. The specimens were tested by using a tensile test and Vickers hardness test to evaluate their mechanical properties. The results indicated that, at low rotational speed, defects such as 'surface lack of fill' and tunnels in the welded area contributed to a decrease in mechanical properties. Welded specimens using double-pass techniques show increasing values of tensile strength and hardness. From this investigation it is found that the best parameters of FSW welded aluminium AA1100 plate were those using double-pass techniques that produce mechanically sound joints with a hardness of 56.38 HV and 108 MPa strength at 1800 rpm compared to the single-pass technique.

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A study on Autonomous Maintenance (AM) implementation was conducted for CNC machine at automotive components manufacturing line in order to identify and measure equipment losses related to availability, performance and quality rate. These values were used to determine the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of the manufacturing line before and after AM implementation. The project started with AM team formation before it was continued with 5S activities and fuguai (abnormality) detection and restoration. Kaizen was used for continuous improvement to restore deteriorated parts and components of the machine. Autonomous Maintenance standards such as cleaning, lubricating and inspection were developed. The AM team members consistently followed the operator maintenance standards to ensure that machine is always in good working condition. The OEE results were taken daily after AM implementation and compared with the data before the implementation. The average OEE result shows significant improvement from 65.8% to 80.4% after the AM implementation. However, the result still did not achieve the company’s target. The main reason was because the machine was very old, which almost reaches deterioration stage according to the bath tub curve. Some recommendations are suggested as to push the OEE value closer to the company’s target including a review on other pillars in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

In this paper, aluminium AA6061-O and galvanized iron were lap-joined using tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. The experiments were conducted using Si-rich filler metals ER4043 (Si 5 wt.%) and ER4047 (Si 12 wt.%). The mechanical properties and the microstructure of the samples were analysed using dye penetrant non-destructive tests (NDT), optical microscope observation and shear tests. All samples showed good quality joints, with Al-GI specimens showing better quality. Through optical microscope observation, the intermetallic compounds (IMC) of specimens using ER4043 fillers show a thin IMC layer ranging from 4 µm to 7 µm, compared to ER4047 samples which ranged between 20 µm and 40 µm. The shear tests show that the GI-Al group fractured at the IMC layer, while the Al-GI group fractured at the FZ-HAZ aluminium matrix. The highest shear strength value obtained was 89.82 MPa and 76.59 MPa for the Al-GI and GI-Al positions, respectively. It can be concluded that the GI-Al (galvanized iron on top and aluminium at the bottom) configuration with filler type ER4043 (Si 5 wt.%) has the optimum mechanical properties with a thin IMC layer and tensile strength of 76.59 MPa.