Conference showcases emerging manufacturing technologies
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nanotechnology and cutting-edge materials science will come face-to-face with manufacturing in an upcoming conference hosted by Ohio State University.
Attendees of the 8th International Conference on Numerical Methods in Industrial Forming Processes (NUMIFORM) June 13-17 will have a different experience than in past conferences of this series, said Somnath Ghosh, conference chairman and professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State.
While the conference has always highlighted the latest techniques for modeling complex processes on computer, NUMIFORM 2004 takes a broader look at the future of manufacturing and its close relationship with materials.
For example, the conference will feature nanotechnology, the science of understanding and manipulating materials on the molecular level. Other presentations will concern techniques for welding, molding, and shaping materials that are of continued interest to industry.
“We have tried to give materials science and engineering significant visibility at the conference, to reflect its importance within the manufacturing community,” Ghosh said. “Materials and manufacturing cannot be separated.”
NUMIFORM 2004 marks only the second time in 10 years that this prestigious international conference has been held in the United States. The last time was at Cornell University in 1995.
Ohio State University President Karen A. Holbrook and Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman will launch the conference’s inaugural program Monday, June 14. Following comments by James Williams, dean of the College of Engineering, Lyle Schwartz, director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, will speak in the first plenary address about materials engineering for affordable new manufacturing systems.
Highlights of the conference’s extensive technical program include:
·Efforts to understand how metal deforms at very small scales. From aircraft engine blades and disks to automobile brake systems, metals and alloys play a critical role in keeping people safe. Ghosh and his research team are developing computer models to show how dangerous cracks form in metals, beginning at the microscopic levels.
·New techniques for forming and joining microscopic plastic parts. Avraham Benatar, associate professor of industrial, welding, and systems engineering at Ohio State, and his colleagues are using lasers to shape tiny plastic parts and weld them together. The features they form -- some narrower than the width of a human hair -- may one day provide platforms for innovative medical diagnostics.
·Better methods for welding sheet metal. A mainstay of the world manufacturing industry, sheet metal strengthens structures as diverse as homes, office buildings, boats, airplanes, and automobiles. But the weakest point of any metal structure comes at the weld joint, where one sheet meets another. Dave Farson, associate professor of industrial, welding, and systems engineering at Ohio State, and his partners have married lasers with existing arc welding technology to create stronger weld joints.
New software and computing technology are key to all these projects, Ghosh explained.
“As computers are becoming more powerful, we can venture down to those small material scales, where things get more complicated. We want to harness the power of the computer to see how far we can go,” he said.
Throughout the conference, engineers in academia and industry will discuss how these and other technologies can be applied in future manufacturing settings.
Conference sponsors include the National Science Foundation; the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; Scientific Forming Technologies Corp.; Honda Motor Company, Inc.; the Honda-OSU Partnership; Quantech ATZ; and Altair Engineering, Inc.
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Contact: Somnath Ghosh, (614) 292-2599; Ghosh.5@osu.edu
Written by Pam Frost Gorder, (614) 292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu
