B. Vijaya Ramnath

Vendor Evaluation Using Multi Criteria Decision Making Technique

A supply chain is a network of departments, which is involved in the manufacture of a product from the procurement of raw materials to the distribution of the final products to the customer. The term supply chain is already invoked effervescence among the managerial community. The purchasing function has gained importance in the supply chain management due to factors such as globalization, increased value addition in supply and accelerated technology change. A key and perhaps the most important process of the purchasing function is the efficient selection of suppliers, because it brings significant savings for the organization. In general, the supplier selection criteria most commonly used by the industries are quality, delivery and price. Also, depending on the corporate environment of the industries, the importance of the performance measure can vary. In this work a versatile technique namely multi criteria decision making (MCDM) technique which involves the analytical network process (ANP) and technique for order performance by similarity to idea solution (TOPSIS) method has been used to select the best vendor. Analytical Network Process and TOPSIS method are powerful decision making processes which help people to set priorities on parameters that are to be considered by reducing complex decision to a series of one-to-one comparisons, thereby synthesizing the result When any vendor for a particular item make changes for the parameters like price, quality etc to improve his performance or has improved abilities in managing supply chain by providing better delivery to his customer, the whole hierarchy process for arriving the ranking of vendors is to be performed again for finding out the best vendor. Now it is felt that a standard automated procedure which could perform the above processing task is essential. So, standard software was developed in a suitable platform such as VB, .NET and MS access that could meet the current requirement. This package can be executed several numbers of times with changing input parameters values thus serving the purpose.

Experimental Investigation of Mechanical behavior of Jute-Flax Based Glass Fiber Reinforced Composite

Present technological development and innovation needs a better class of material that meets all the practical applications along with its environmental friendly nature and economical value. Hybrid natural fiber composites, a sector of natural composites meets these requirements. This paper deals with fabrication, mechanical characterization of a hybrid (Jute+Flax+GFRP) composite and also the comparison of it with the (Jute+GFRP) based composite. These composites are fabricated using hand lay-up technique. The arrangement of hybrid composite is such that a layer of vertically laid flax fiber is flanked between layers of horizontally laid jute fiber. Epoxy resin alongside with HY951 hardener is used as the binding agent throughout the layer. Glass fiber laminates are used on both sides for improving the surface finish and surface hardness. The volumetric fraction is such that one third of total volume is occupied by Jute and Flax fibers. Test results shows that the hybrid natural composite has excellent properties under tensile, flexural loading. At last failure morphology analysis is done using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the internal structure of the broken specimen is discussed.

Suitability Assessment of Lean Kitting Assembly through Fuzzy Based Simulation Model

The success of an industry depends on its product‟s quality, cost and delivery time. So, now a days all manufacturers are trying to implement new manufacturing methods for their production process. In this paper, an attempt has been made to find the suitability of new assembly method known as Lean Kitting assembly for a leading two wheeler manufacturer in India. Lean Kitting means supplying assembly station with kit of components. Even though lot of Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) models like AHP, ANP and PVA are available, a Fuzzy Based Simulation (FBS) model is necessary to assure the suitability by considering important factors and simulate the factors with data given by the experts in those fields. This paper mainly focused on the modeling of a „Fuzzy Based Simulation‟ for finding the suitability of the Lean Kitting system by considering the following important factors: Work In Process inventory, Floor space required, operator walking distance.

Experimental determination of mechanical properties of banana jute hybrid composite

Presently there has been an enormous increase in demand for novel materials to produce complex products with better quality. Hence, plant fibres shall be used to achieve this goal. Hybrid natural fibre composites, can fulfil these requirements. This paper deals with the fabrication and investigation of mechanical properties of hybrid natural fibre composite (banana jute glass fibre) and compares it with single fibre natural composites made up of jute and banana separately. In this work, hand layup method is used to fabricate the composites. The mechanical tests such as tensile, flexural, impact, double shear and delamination tests are performed. Finally, failure morphology analysis is done using Scanning electron microscope (SEM) to know fracture direction, matrix structure and fibre orientation. The results reveal that the hybrid composite has better overall mechanical properties when compared to mono composites containing same materials.

A Review on CNT Reinforced Aluminium and Magnesium Matrix Composites

Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) are one allotropic form of carbon, which have some unique characteristics that make them a suitable reinforcing agent in various types of composites. CNT reinforced composites are gaining more attention in recent days. Reinforcing with CNT leads to increase in strength without considerable increase in weight. Many metal matrix composites (MMCs) with base metals like aluminium, magnesium, copper, nickel etc., and polymer matrix composites (PMCs) have been fabricated and experimented with CNT as one of their reinforcing agents and corresponding results have been recorded. This paper reviews a few of these recordings on Al and Mg MMCs and also some future development in this field.

Properties and Performance Analysis of Woven Roving Composite Laminates for Automotive Panel Board Applications

Now-a-days natural Fibers are employed in various engineering applications because of their high tensile strength, low thermal expansion, high strength to weight ratio and good corrosion resistance. In this paper, woven roving composite laminates are prepared to produce automotive panel boards. Even though, various methods are available for preparing composites like Pultrusion method, filament winding method and hand layup method, hand lay method is used in this paper. The bundles of woven roving are alkalized at concentration between 1.2 and 6% of NaoH. Then, the treated fibres with increased strength are used as reinforcement with Epoxy LY556 resin with HY951 hardener under room temperature. The tensile analysis is conducted for the specimens like plain specimen, specimen with circular central hole and specimen with rectangular central hole. The results show that plain specimen is having more strength followed by circular hole and then rectangular hole specimens. It suggested that the case industry can make near optimal circular hole for its components by replacing rectangular hole.

Investigation on mechanical behaviour of twisted natural fiber hybrid composite fabricated by vacuum assisted compression molding technique

Nowadays, automotive, packaging and sport equipment industries are using natural fibre based composite materials as they are cheap, abundantly available and having a lot of ecological advantages. The main objective of this paper is to introduce a new concept of fibre twisting and to investigate the effect of twisting and the fibre orientation on the mechanical properties of bio degradable green composites. Here, the composites are fabricated by vacuum assisted compression molding technique in which the problems of hand lay process are eliminated. Here, two fibers namely twisted neem and twisted kenaf are sandwiched between layers of glass fibres to enhance the stiffness and strength of the laminates. Initially, the fibers are alkalized to increase the mechanical properties. The result shows that there is a significant improvement in mechanical properties of composites due to the presence of twisted fibers. It also shows the influence of fiber orientation on mechanical properties.

Fabrication and Testing of Abaca Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Composites for Automotive Applications

The natural fibre composite materials are nowadays playing a vital role in replacing the conventional and synthetic materials for industrial applications. This paper proposes a natural fiber composite made of Abaca fibre as reinforcing agent with Epoxy resin as the matrix, manufactured using Hand Lay-up method. Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics (woven rovings) are used to improve the surface finish and impart more strength and stiffness to natural fibers. In this work, the fibers are arranged in alternative layers of abaca in horizontal and vertical orientation. The mechanical properties of the composite are determined by testing the samples for tensile and flexural strength. It is observed that the tensile strength of the composite material is dependent on the strength of the natural fiber and also on the interfacial adhesion between the reinforcement and the matrix. The composite is developed for automobile dashboard/mudguard application. It may also be extended to biomedical, electronics and sports goods manufacturing. It can also be used in marine products due to excellent resistance of abaca to salt water damage since the tensile strength when it is wet.

Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Aluminium 6061-Silicon Carbide, Boron Carbide Metal Matrix Composite

High demand on materials to increase the overall performance of automotive and aerospace components has forced the development of composite materials. Among the various composites, Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites (AMMC) are widely used to fulfill the emerging industrial needs. This paper deals with the investigation of mechanical properties of AMMC produced by the stir casting technique for various compositions of boron carbide and silicon carbide reinforced with aluminium alloy 6061. The tensile, flexural, hardness and impact tests were performed and it was found that the hybrid composites had better properties than pure aluminium. The microstructure of the hybrid composites was analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

Experimental Investigation of Mechanical and Chemical Properties of Aluminium Reinforced with MWCNT

Carbon Nanotubes (CNT’s) have recently been found to possess extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Extensive studies on the properties of CNT’s as a re-inforcing agent in Metal Matrix Composites are being investigated. In this study, powder metallurgy technique has been employed for the matrix material being Aluminium 6063 with CNT in varying concentrations as reinforcing agent. The powders are mixed thoroughly using ball milling and are compacted in a compacting die made of D-2 Steel to make green compact. It is then sintered at 350°C to 550°C at a rate of increase of 50°C per hour. Chemical, Microscopic examination, Compression and Hardness tests were performed on the specimens and were compared with pure aluminium specimens to show the effects of varying concentrations of CNT. The study indicated that there was no improvement in hardness of the composite on addition of CNT while there was an increase in compressive strength. The microstructure of pure aluminium and Al-CNT composite had fine grains of pure aluminium particles and Al-Si eutectic particles throughout the matrix phase.