📖Program Curriculum
Course modules
Compulsory modules
All the modules in the following list need to be taken as part of this course.
Aircraft Assembly
Aim
To develop your understanding of aircraft assembly methods and techniques that are effective and efficient and at the same time meet quality and safety requirements.
Syllabus
• Joining techniques: bolts, rivets.
• Assembly jigs and fixtures.
• Aircraft assembly layouts and processes.
• Automated fastening machines.
• Sealants and adhesives.
• Automation in aircraft assembly.
• Application of metrology.
• Quality processes.
• Certification and validation.
• Technology introduction.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Apply comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing flow and layout to aircraft assembly.
2. Demonstrate understanding of aircraft structures (fuselage, wing).
3. Appraise different advanced joining techniques used in aircraft assembly.
4. Formulate a holistic approach to analysis and design of aircraft assembly processes and their introduction.
5. Understand the future technologies that will influence the assembly of next generation aircraft.
Manufacturing Strategy
Aim
To develop your skills to analyse and manage the direction of a business, to design and develop manufacturing strategy to deliver competitive advantage and plan effective deployment of a strategy.
Syllabus
• Competitive manufacturing strategy concepts.
• Benchmarking of manufacturing system performance.
• Manufacturing strategy in business success.
• Strategy formation and formulation, leading on to system design.
• Structured strategy formulation and system design methodologies.
• Approaches to strategy formulation in differing business contexts.
• Realisation of new strategies/system designs, including approaches to implementation.
• Case study on design of competitive manufacturing strategy.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Evaluate competitive advantage for manufacturing strategy. 2. Demonstrate manufacturing strategy formulation.
3. Apply a structured methodology to create a competitive manufacturing strategy.
4. Assess the impact of a proposed manufacturing strategy on business performance.
Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Aim
To develop your understanding of complex manufacturing systems engineering through the application of different modelling and simulation tools, techniques and methodologies with a view to analyse and (re)design manufacturing systems that maximise value to customers while minimising waste.
Syllabus
• Introduction to modelling: taxonomy, overview of methods and techniques.
• Design of manufacturing layouts.
• Group Technology & Cellular manufacturing in the context of Human centred factory design.
• Manufacturing Systems modelling using discrete-event simulation, Systems dynamics and Agent-based simulation techniques and methodologies.
• Case study Analysis of manufacturing systems using simulation.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Differentiate the applicability of different layout types applicable in manufacturing businesses.
2. Assess how production layout and system design influences productivity and, in particular, appraise the effectiveness of cellular configurations.
3. Design a graphical simulation model using an industry leading discrete-event simulation tool.
5. Contrast discrete-event simulation to other modelling techniques especially in addressing emerging manufacturing paradigms.
6. Devise an experimental procedure and interpret the consequential results of the simulation model.
Operations Management
Aim
To introduce you to core factors of managing operations.
Syllabus
An introduction to manufacturing and service activities.
Capacity, demand and load; identifying key capacity determinant; order-size mix problem; coping with changes in demand.
Standard times, and how to calculate them; process analysis and supporting tools; process simplification.
What quality is; standards and frameworks; quality tools; quality in the supply chain.
Scheduling rules; scheduling and nested set-ups.
Roles of inventory; dependent and independent demand; Economic Order Quantity; uncertain demand; inventory management systems and measures.
Information systems – at operational, managerial, and strategic levels; bills of material; MRP, MPRll and ERP systems.
Ohno’s 7 wastes; Just-in-Time systems (including the Toyota Production System, and Kanbans).
Class discussion of cases, exercises, and videos to support this syllabus.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you will be able to:
1. Assess the key capacity determinant in an operation, and carry out an analysis to develop the most appropriate approach in response to changes in demand.
2. Select and apply appropriate approaches and tools to determine standards and improve processes.
3. Determine the information needed to support businesses, in particular manufacturing operations.
4. Assess and select appropriate Just-in-Time (JIT) tools to improve operations.
5. Develop appropriate quality systems for the whole of their supply chain – from supplier, through operations to customers – and ensure these systems are sustained and a culture of continuous improvement prevails.
Supply Chain Management
Aim
To introduce you to the wider issues surrounding the management and optimisation of supply chains.
Syllabus
Supply chain concepts
Supply chain strategy
Relationship management
Supplier Selection and Evaluation
Supplier Sustainability
Supply chain Planning
Design & Operating SC
Outsourcing Product Design and Manufacturing
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module you will be able to:
1. Evaluate issues surrounding the development of the right supply chain strategy for the business / product groups.
2. Create strategies for managing the information flows in a supply network in order to reduce the bullwhip effect and the challenges of accurate demand and forecast planning.
3. Evaluate the challenges with improving performance of supply networks and gain familiarity with the application of a variety of supply chain tools to help in the re-design of the SC.
4. Organize the complexities in managing and designing distribution centres so that they support the overall SC strategy and customer value proposition in the market place.
5. Integrate procurement and supplier management for the supply chain to function effectively.
Elective modules
A selection of modules from the following list need to be taken as part of this course
Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing Technologies
Aim
To provide you with an understanding of the principles behind some of the most recent developments in the processing of high value added components. There is a strong emphasis on high efficiency and reduced cost in the manufacture of high volume and/or high value added parts using the latest technology based around advanced fabrication, machining processes and additive techniques. The module will cover the physical principles, operating characteristics and practical aspects related to these key technologies.
Syllabus
• Metal cutting processes and practice.
• Abrasive machining processes and practice
• Non-conventional machining including photochemical machining and associated metal removal and addition processes.
• Micro machining and micro moulding.
• Machine tool components and machine-materials interactions, metrology.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Critically review recent developments in machining and fabrication processes for the production of engineering components and identify their main areas of application and limitations.
2. Describe and apply the relationships between material properties, processing conditions, metrology and component service performance.
3. Analyse how the physical principles behind the operation of these processes can be used to monitor process capability and performance.
4. Apply design rules and fabrication techniques to manufacture micro components.
5. Assess different routes for the high volume manufacture of micro components.
Advanced Welding Processes
Aim
The aim of this module is to provide you with an understanding of the principles behind the most recent developments in welding processes. There is a strong emphasis on laser welding, as well as recent developments in arc, friction and resistance welding. The module will cover the operating principles, characteristics and practical applications of each process.
Syllabus
• Fundamentals of lasers, optics and fibre optics
• Laser welding including micro-welding and hybrid processes
• Introduction to laser processing
• Laser material interactions
• Laser powder melting
• Laser wire melting
• Laser sources, optics and fibre optics
• Advanced arc welding processes
• Solid state welding processes
• Friction welding
• Additive manufacture
• Advanced resistance welding
• Dissimilar material welding
• Remote underwater welding
• Weld metal engineering
• Electron beam welding
• Process monitoring
• Other laser processes (e.g. laser peening)
• Material characteristics and response to laser
• Weld metal engineering
• Laser safety
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:
1. Evaluate and compare the physical principles behind the operation of the advanced welding and processing methods e.g. laser, advanced gas metal arc processes, friction based techniques etc.
2. Select the most appropriate welding system for a particular application and analyse the economic benefits.
3. Examine physical and engineering principles behind selective applications for welding processes and critique methods for maximising process efficiency.
4. Appraise recent developments in welding technology and identify where these new processes can be used.
Composites Manufacturing for High Performance Structures
Aim
To provide a detailed awareness of current and emerging manufacturing technology for high performance composite components and structures and an understanding of materials selection and the design process for effective parts manufacturing.
Syllabus
• Background to thermosetting and thermoplastic polymer matrix composites.
• Practical demonstrations – lab work.
• Overview of established manufacturing processes, developing processes, automation and machining.
• Introduction to emerging process developments; automation, textile preforming, through thickness reinforcement.
• Design for manufacture, assembly techniques and manufacturing cost.
• Case studies from aerospace, automotive, motorsport, marine and energy sectors.
• DVD demonstrations of all processing routes.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Describe a range of modern manufacturing techniques for thermoset and thermoplastic type composites.
2. Select appropriate manufacturing techniques for a given composite structure/ application and describe current areas of technology development for composites processing.
3. Demonstrate or describe practical handling of prepregs and a range of fibre forms and resins.
4. Use the design process for high performance composite structures and appraise the influence on design to the manufacturing process.
5. Evaluate performance-cost balance implications of materials and process choice.
Failure of Materials and Structures
Aim
To provide an understanding of why materials and structures fail and how failure conditions can be predicted in metallic and non-metallic components and structures.
Syllabus
• Overview of failure behaviour of cracked bodies; crack size influence, brittle and ductile behaviour; influence of material properties. Cyclic loading and chemical environment. Thermodynamic criteria and energy balance; Griffith’s approach, modifications by Orowan. Strain energy release rate, compliance, applications to fibre composites.
• LEFM and crack tip stress fields, stress concentration, stress intensity, plane stress and plane strain. Fracture toughness in metallic materials, fracture toughness testing, calculations of critical defect sizes and failure stress. Crack tip plastic zones; the HRR field, CTOD, J Elastic- plastic failure criteria. Defect assessment failure assessment diagrams.
• Fracture of rigid polymers and standard tests for fracture resistance of polymers. Delamination fatigue tests. Emerging CEN/ISO standards, current ESIS test procedures.
• Crack extension under cyclic loading; Regimes of fatigue crack growth; Influence of material properties and crack tip plastic zones; Calculation of crack growth life and defect assessment in fatigue; Crack closure and variable amplitude loading; Short cracks and the limits of LEFM.
• Software design tools for fatigue crack growth.
• Static loading-stress corrosion cracking; corrosion fatigue.
Intended learning outcomes On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Assess the different regimes and processes of failure of cracked bodies and describe the factors controlling them and the boundaries and limits between them.
2. Explain the principles of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) and demonstrate their application to cracks in brittle, ductile and fibre composites through calculation of static failure conditions.
3. Calculate the limits of applicability of LEFM and apply modified predictive tools such as elastic-plastic fracture mechanics and failure assessment diagrams for calculation of failure.
4. Appraise fracture mechanics to failure of cracked bodies under cyclic loads and under aggressive chemical environments to evaluate and predict service lives of structures.
5. Evaluate laboratory fracture mechanics data and critically assess its validity for application to particular engineering situations.
Operations Analysis
