Abstracts:Many assembled products contain parts that are not rigid, and there is a large variety of such parts, which might be as different as cables, sheet metals, plastic covers, or foams. The assembly processes of such products may also involve non-rigidity in the tools used. Non-rigidity in the parts and tools adds additional degrees of freedom to the assembly processes and systems, which, on the one hand, adds engineering complexity, and on the other hand, may be the key for superior solutions. This paper reviews recent developments in models, methods, handling techniques, and control of such parts at the assembly station and systems levels with a main focus on applications related to the manufacturing industry. The core areas of knowledge addressed by this paper cover advanced models for non-rigid objects, process and system planning, new tooling, and new control concepts based on perception and human-robot interaction. More research work is expected in the field of modelling and perception due to the development of computer vision, robotics, and artificial intelligence. New advances on the processing and assembly hardware can also be expected due to the highly active research field of soft material robotics and high-payload-gripping with soft material versatility.

Abstracts:Collecting and utilizing data in industrial production are becoming increasingly important. One promising approach to utilize data is the concept of digital twin (DT). DTs are virtual representations of physical assets, updated by real data and enhanced by models. This paper provides an overview of DTs for cutting processes. After giving a definition, we discuss requirements derived from representative use cases. As process models are central for DT creation, we present an overview of the latest research as well as conditions for how it can be implemented in industrial environments. The paper concludes with main challenges for future research.

Abstracts:Design, development, productization, and applications of advanced product concepts are pressing for higher multifunctionality, resilience, and maximization of available resources equitably to meet the growing and continuing demands of global customers. These demands have further accelerated during the recent COVID-19 pandemic and are continuing to be a challenge. Engineering designs are one of the most effective ways to endow products with functions, resilience, and sustainability. Biology, through millions of years of evolution, has met these acute requirements under severe resource and environmental constraints. As the manufacturing of products is reaching the fundamental limits of raw materials, labor, and resource constraints in terms of availability, accessibility, and affordability, new approaches are a call to action to meet these challenges. Understanding the designs in biology is an attractive, novel, and desired frontier for learning and implementation to meet this call to action. This is the focus of the paper discussed through examples for convergence of fundamental engineering design concepts and the lessons learned and applied from biology.

Abstracts:Manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly data-driven. Integrating manufacturing data and process models in real-time, a digital twin (DT) may function as an autonomous and dynamic digital replica. This, in turn, may enable manufacturers to not only understand and monitor a process but also proactively control it in real-time or a product over its life cycle. This paper examines the DT concept and its evolution and presents a future DT framework. DTs’ key components (e.g., process models) and implementation are focused on additive manufacturing, electrical discharge machining, and electrochemical machining. Furthermore, current challenges and future research directions are summarized.

Abstracts:Metal forming processes and formed components can be enhanced by stress superposition. Stress superposition is defined here as adding stresses on an existing (primary) forming process acting simultaneously with the core stress state. An extensive analysis of existing applications leads to a systematic classification of current stress superposition methods. The mechanisms of stress superposition and the modelling are provided. Achievable improvements in the reduction of forming force, increase in formability, and tailoring physical properties are presented. The limits of stress superposition and future opportunities of designing new forming processes through utilization of stress superposition are proposed.

Abstracts:Grinding plays an important role in ensuring the final machining quality in the manufacturing process of composite parts. Problems such as grinding damage, grinding wheel wear and loading undermine the grinding efficiency and quality. This review presents relevant research progress in the field of composites grinding in recent years from the aspects of material removal mechanisms, surface integrity, and advanced grinding technologies. It further discusses the common problems of composites grinding and summarizes grinding process strategies to suppress damage. It can provide an in-depth understanding of the fundamental mechanisms involved in composites grinding and solutions to the composites grinding problems.

Abstracts:The advances in electronics, sensors, actuators, smart materials, computers, and communication technologies led to new and improved mechatronics-based smart tooling systems. This paper reviews the sensors and actuators used in tooling systems. The sensor principles to measure force, displacement, and temperature are explained. Actuators based on piezo, magnetorheological fluid, shape memory alloy, and magnetostrictive principles are discussed. Wireless and wire-based power supply and signal transmission techniques to stationary and rotating tools are described. The integration of sensors, actuators, power supply, and microcontrollers to various tooling systems used in boring, milling, turning, and grinding operations are presented along with their process monitoring and control applications in the industry. It is shown that the sensor-actuator tooling systems improve the accuracy, robustness, and productivity of machining which adds intelligence to the machine tools. The current challenges include widening the operating bandwidth of tooling systems, wireless power and high-speed data transmission, miniaturization of actuators and sensors, and onboard processing using embedded micro-controllers.

Abstracts:Platform-based manufacturing is substantially changing the way production is conceived and performed. Companies do not know who is making their parts, part manufacturers do not necessarily own the machines, and knowledge and decisions cross the borders of firms. This revolutionary approach is already becoming a reality thanks to a wealth of innovations related to manufacturing science as well as information and communication technologies, and novel business models that meet together at the right moment of their evolution. Considering the existing literature and digging into the phenomenon by interviewing decision-makers, the paper reconstructs the roots of these developments, analyzes the challenges posed to the manufacturing sector, focuses on recent challenges and opportunities, and finally delineates visions for the future.

Abstracts:Twenty years after the publication of a first CIRP Keynote Paper about gear metrology [32], this paper reviews again the state of the art in this area. Gear technology has changed and improved significantly during the past decades, which initiated substantial improvements in gear metrology, too. On the other hand, for up to 50% of gear inspection technologies used today, only minor changes are observed. Consequently, this update focuses on new or significantly improved techniques, such that only the combination of both this publication and [32] gives a comprehensive review of the state of the art in gear metrology. Gear technology in emerging markets, e.g., electric cars, large gears for energy systems, and micro gear drives, extends the scope of inspection tasks and requires new measuring methods and instruments, including optical sensors. Measured data, covering the entire gear flank of all teeth, need areal flank descriptions, areal evaluation methods, and areal deviation parameters. New calibration methods and artifacts will improve measurement uncertainties.

Abstracts:The paper describes the state-of-the-art in modeling and simulation of surface texture and topography generation at micro and nano dimensional scales. Three main classes of manufacturing processes used for the generation of engineering surfaces are considered: material removal processes, material conservative processes, and material additive processes. Types of modeling techniques for the simulation of surface generation are reviewed and discussed including analytical models, numerical multi-physics models, and data-driven methods. After presenting the application of those modeling techniques for the prediction of characteristics and geometry of surfaces generated by different manufacturing processes, their performance, implementation, and accuracy are discussed. Finally, a roadmap for the realization of a complete surface generation digital twin in manufacturing is outlined.