Keith Ridgway

Workpiece Surface Integrity and Tool Life Issues When Turning Inconel 718™ Nickel Based Superalloy

Abstract Inconel 718 is one of a family of nickel-based superalloys which are used extensively in the aerospace industry in the hot sections of gas turbine engines. The literature detailing the effects of varying operating parameters on tool life when machining nickel based superalloys is comprehensive, however, relatively little of this data refers to their effects on machined workpiece surface integrity. Greater knowledge of the effects of operating parameters on surface integrity is critical to the acceptance of new cutting tool materials, tool geometries, and strategies, especially by the aerospace industry. The article initially reviews prior work on the machinability and surface integrity achieved when turning Inconel 718. Following on from this a series of experiments evaluating the effects of varying cutting tool material, geometry, and operating parameters are detailed.

Servitization: revisiting the state-of-the-art and research priorities

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the servitization knowledge base from an organizational change perspective, identifying developed, developing and undeveloped topics to provide a platform that directs future research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper addresses three objectives: it comprehensively examines organizational change management literature for selection of a theoretical framework; it classifies extant studies within the framework through a systemic literature review; and it analyses 232 selected papers and proposes a research agenda. Findings: Analysis suggests increasing global awareness of the importance of services to manufacturers. However, some topics, especially related to servitization transformation, remain undeveloped. Research limitations/implications: Although the authors tried to include all publications relevant to servitization, some might not have been captured. Evaluation and interpretation relied on the research team and subsequent research workshops. Practical implications: One of the most significant challenges for practitioners of servitization is how to transform a manufacturing organization to exploit the opportunity. This paper consolidates literature regarding servitization, identifying progress concerning key research topics and contributing a platform for future research. The goal is to inform research to result eventually in a roadmap for practitioners seeking to servitize. Originality/value: Although extant reviews of servitization identify themes that are examined well, they struggle to identify unanswered questions. This paper addresses this gap by focusing on servitization as a process of organizational change.

QFD in new production technology evaluation

Abstract The large number of new technologies being developed means it is vital for organisations to make appropriate selections that will translate limited capital resources into maximum competitive advantage. However, a thorough economic evaluation of a technology requires considerable time and effort. This paper presents a tool developed from the techniques of quality function deployment. This tool allows a rapid evaluation of the feasibility of using the thixoforming process to manufacture products. The paper describes the semi-solid metal processing technology of thixoforming, the relevant quality function deployment techniques and the approach used to develop the tool.

Building a manufacturing cladogram

This article presents the findings of an investigation into the classification of manufacturing systems based on cladistics and the theory of natural selection. The article describes the benefits and application of cladistic classifications for those concerned with manufacturing advancement and technology management. The information presented provides researchers and consultants who have no prior knowledge of classification theory, with an introduction to this school of classification, along with rules and guidelines on how to construct, validate and analyse a manufacturing system cladogram.

Cladistics: a taxonomy for manufacturing organizations

Presents an evolutionary management technique (cladistics) which could enable organizations to formally and systematically understand the emergence of new manufacturing forms within their business environment. This fundamental, but important, insight could result in cladograms being used as a tool within a change framework, for achieving successful organizational design and change. Thus, regardless of the industrial sector, managers could use cladograms as an evolutionary analysis technique for determining “where they have been and where they are now”. This evolutionary analysis could be used to formulate coherent and appropriate action for managers who are responsible for organizational design and development.

A cladistic classification of commercial aerospace supply chain evolution

Purpose – This paper aims to address the advantage of considering an evolutionary classification scheme for commercial aerospace supply chains. It is an industry wide approach. By going beyond the performance of the single firm and considering the whole supply chain for a product a better understanding of present states and performances of the firms within the chain can be achieved.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is presented as evolutionary steps by introduction of key supply chain characters. These steps are brought together by applying cladistics to classify the evolutionary relationships between supply chain forms.Findings – Key character states define the change of supply chain forms in the evolutionary adaptation to market realities and to proactive responses to increased competition.Originality/value – The potential benefits of this approach include a benchmark of best practice, a strategic tool for policy development, and the creation of future scenarios.

Aerospace Supply Chains as Evolutionary Networks of Activities: Innovation Via Risk-Sharing Partnerships

In the aerospace industry competitive advantage is searched through product innovation. This paper sets out to explore the effects that relationship development in the commercial aerospace supply chains have on innovation and competitive advantage. A perspective of supply chains as complex activity networks is used for data analysis based on in-depth interviews in a global setting. Applying these concepts of supply chains as the interaction of multiple work activities assists in comprehending the forces of change. The processes of change are characterized by expansive learning processes of creating instruments for initializing, developing and sustaining these relationships. These processes take place in a terrain of complex power exercises. The long-term effects are totally dependent on nurturing the relationships. The findings may be useful to practitioners in understanding how implementation of successful supply chain changes may come about. It promotes risk-sharing partnerships as instruments for innovation. The paper provides evidence of changing relationships in commercial aerospace supply chains.

Manufacturing Ti-6Al-4V Components by Shaped Metal Deposition: Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

The urge in aeronautics to reduce cost and time to flight of components without compromising safety and performance stimulates the investigation of novel manufacturing routes. Shaped Metal Deposition (SMD) is an innovative time-compression technology, which creates near-net shaped components layer by layer by weld deposition. Especially for Ti alloys, which are difficult to shape by traditional methods such as forging, machining and casting and for which the loss of material during the shaping process is also very expensive, SMD promises great advantages. Applying preliminary SMD parameter, four different tubular components with a square cross section and wall thicknesses of about 9 mm were built. The microstructure of the Ti-6Al-4V components consists of large prior β grains, elongated along the temperature gradient during welding, which transform into a lamellar α/β substructure at room temperature. The ultimate tensile strength was between 880 and 1054 MPa. The strain at failure was between 3.0 and 11.3 % for tensile testing parallel to the deposition plane and between 9.1 and 16.4 % perpendicular to the deposition plane. The micro-hardness (3.1 - 3.4 GPa), the Youngs modulus (117 - 121 GPa) and the oxygen and nitrogen content are comparable to cast Ti-6Al-4V material.

Industrial Resilience and Decline: A Co-Evolutionary Framework

This book applies ideas and methods from the complexity perspective to key concerns in the social sciences, exploring co-evolutionary processes that have not yet been addressed in the technical or popular literature on complexity. Authorities in a variety of fields – including evolutionary economics, innovation and regeneration studies, urban modelling and history – re-evaluate their disciplines within this framework. The book explores the complex dynamic processes that give rise to socio-economic change over space and time, with reference to empirical cases including the emergence of knowledge-intensive industries and decline of mature regions, the operation of innovative networks and the evolution of localities and cities. Sustainability is a persistent theme and the practicability of intervention is examined in the light of these perspectives.

Simulating the Cladistic Evolution of Manufacturing

Summary A common belief within manufacturing is ‘the only constant is change’. Manufacturing cladistics was first developed in the early 1990s not only as a means of classibling manufacturing organisations but also, and perhaps more importantly, as a tool to both help deal with change, and use as a guide for organisational re-engineering. However, this approach has one major limitation — it is only a description of the past; the future is not represented. Uncertainty in decision-making and unknown barriers are thought to be major inhibitors behind the introduction of important innovations in technical, organisational and social domains. This paper reports on the results of a study that interprets two complimentary, but currently unrelated, areas of research, manufacturing cladistics and evolutionary systems methodology. This new framework would enable the exploration of evolutionary processes involved in the interactions of technologies and practices, facilitating decision-making as well as the exploration of new organisational structures.