Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Field problem. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Nov. 9, 2007). PDF text: x, 128 p. : ill. ; 6 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3266779. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed on Jan. 10, 2006) "This dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Management." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1939. / Without thesis note.

by Ho Chi Kin. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves 63-64. / abstract --- p.ii / table of contents --- p.iii / list of figures --- p.v / list of charts --- p.vi / ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.vii / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Development stages of developing countries --- p.1 / Development of Hong Kong manufacturing industries (47-81) --- p.2 / Factor of success --- p.6 / Purpose of study --- p.8 / Chapter II. --- OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY --- p.12 / Objectives of study --- p.12 / Method of study --- p.13 / Scope of study --- p.14 / Chapter III. --- data collection --- p.16 / Source of data --- p.16 / Problem of data collection --- p.18 / Reliability of data --- p.19 / Definition of terms --- p.20 / Chapter IV. --- PERFORMANCE OF MAJOR ECONOMIC SECTORS --- p.21 / Contribution to GDP --- p.21 / Contribution to employment --- p.23 / "Value added, gross output and compensation of employees" --- p.26 / Chapter V. --- total export --- p.29 / Domestic export and re-export --- p.29 / Domestic export market structure --- p.31 / Chapter VI. --- PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING SECTOR --- p.34 / Number of establishment --- p.34 / Number of person engaged --- p.37 / Domestic export --- p.39 / Value added and gross output --- p.42 / Production costs --- p.46 / Chapter VII. --- CHINA FACTOR --- p.49 / The emerging role of China in HK economy --- p.49 / Outward Processing activities --- p.50 / Chapter VIII. --- Conclusion --- p.52 / Challenges ahead of Hong Kong manufacturers --- p.52 / Restructuring - which way? --- p.56 / APPENDIX --- p.58 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.63

Improvements in existing materials and the development of new materials for use in selective laser sintering are continually being pursued in the industrial and academic domains. This research will focus on the possibilities available for improving the mechanical properties and geometric accuracy of selective laser sintered parts produced from non-commercial polyamide 12 (PA12) composites. The specific material of interest is PA 12 filled with glass beads. This thesis describes a study of the relationship between filler particles, the polymer matrix and processing parameters and their influence on the mechanical properties and geometric accuracy of the composite. The aim of the study is to better understand the effect of coupling agents on the above mentioned properties as there is a lack of information in this area. Most of the experiments described in the thesis were performed with PA 12 filled with coated and uncoated glass beads. The production of test samples was carried out on a selective laser sintering machine (DTM Sinterstation 2000). Knowledge about different machine-material combinations has been extended by performing additional PA 12 composite experiments. The accessible information from PA 12 and glass-filled PA 12 (PA12/GF) manufacturer’s data was used as a reference in comparison and assessment of the results obtained from the new machine-material combinations. This research has shown that adding coated glass beads to PA 12 improves the tensile strength and elastic modulus but reduces the impact strength and ductility of the ii resulting material. Under suitable processing conditions, the geometrical accuracy of sintered parts also improves with the addition of glass beads. The work has also shown that good interfacial bonding between the polyamide matrix and the glass beads, particularly when a coupling agent is used, is a likely cause for the observed improvements.

Part consolidation (PC) is concerned with reducing the number of components in an assembly, and has long been the focus of traditional Design for Manufacture and Assembly guidelines to reduce assembly costs. However, the limitations of traditional processes and correlation between design complexity and cost more often results in products with multiple separate components and complex assembly requirements. Additive manufacturing (AM) processes build parts layer by layer meaning they are capable of manufacturing considerably more complex geometries and do not have the same complexity-cost correlation. PC is described throughout the literature as one of the major benefits of AM, with potential for reducing assembly requirements, reducing inventory and supply chain complexity, and improving product quality by reducing tolerance stack-up. However, there is currently very little empirical evidence provided or means to quantify the impact of PC on costs throughout a product's lifecycle. This thesis presents an empirical based cost model developed to enable organisations to quantify the impacts of PC on costs for use during the pre-installation phase of AM adoption. The motivation behind this study is the lack of application of advanced manufacturing technology implementation research to AM adoption, and the inability of organisations to systematically consider the potential impact of PC on costs within the justification phase. A single company case study research approach has been used to develop the cost model, basing it on activities within the research host company. To trial the cost model, embedded redesign case studies were performed to investigate PC in isolation and base the model calculations on empirical evidence. The remaining parameters were defined based on data from the host company. The results show that AM has the potential to significantly reduce part count of sub-assemblies within the host company's products by up to 96%, with a potential 86% cost saving. Contrary to DFMA rules, parts that need to move bodily with respect to other parts and that were originally separated for assembly of other components could both be consolidated using AM. The significant cost savings occur where numerous components are consolidated through PC, thereby eliminating considerable cost elements. This research indicates that the impact of PC on costs could have a significant impact on decisions made with regards to AM adoption, and could provide the justification for further investigation and investment to fully implement and benefit from the technology. To improve utilisation of the cost model, it was developed into an Excel-based tool enabling organisations to quickly adapt parameters to reflect their own business model and potential for PC based on redesign case studies. A practical approach based on the methodology used in this research is also developed to help organisations adapt and apply the PC cost model.

In recent years surface metrology has undergone a revolution: non-contact technologies have driven the transition from profile to areal measurement, and topography in- formation can now be obtained in the form of three-dimensional geometric models. However, the conceptual approach underlying topography characterisation has not changed as much, and surfaces are still predominantly quantified in terms of "rough- ness". This thesis explores feature-based characterisation, an approach that merges technologies from computer vision, image processing, geometric modelling, and statistical modelling, to forge a new set of tools for the analysis of three-dimensional surface topography. Feature-based characterisation provides the end-user with the capability of identifying, isolating and characterising any topographic formation of interest which may be found on a measured surface, addressing characterisation needs that may go well beyond the mere assessment of surface roughness. Feature-based characterisation of surface topography offers new ways to approach cur- rently challenging metrology problems, and offers new opportunities to explore original pathways in the development of advanced manufacturing processes, materials and products. This thesis illustrates original methods developed by the candidate for feature-based characterisation, and presents a first attempt at unifying such methods into a comprehensive framework where feature-based characterisation is seen as an alternative to conventional characterisation based on quantifying roughness. Throughout the thesis, the foundational elements of feature-based characterisation framework will be illustrated and discussed with the help of examples from real-life applications.

Friction stir welding (FSW) is an upgraded version of the conventional friction welding process, and it is considered the latest development and the most important one during the past two decades in the welding of metals. The dependence of FSW on friction and plastic work as a heat source precludes the melting in the workpiece and leads to avoiding many of the difficulties arising from the change in the state of the material, such as defects, distortion and residual stresses, which often happen in conventional welding processes. FSW gained significant attention as a solid-state welding process of aluminium alloys, but now there is a need to extend its application to advanced materials such as metal matrix composites (MMCs). However, the process has always represented a challenge owing to the complexity of microstructural development and the associated number of process parameters to take into consideration. This thesis investigates the feasibility of welding two new advanced aluminium matrix composites (AMCs), AA 6092/SiC/17.5p-T6 and AA 6061B/SiC/20p-T1 by FSW for the first time. Also, aluminium alloy AA6082-T6 has been investigated as base-line material to specify the benefit, drawback, and FSW window. Experiment analyses were conducted to evaluate the influence of FSW parameters, including tool rotation and traverse speeds on the quality of weldments. Weld joints were characterised in terms of thermal history, metallurgical behaviour, mechanical properties, and residual stresses. The metallurgical characterisations have been done by optical, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Microhardness, tensile, and low-cycle fatigue (LCF) test with the axial total strain-amplitude control mode R=ε_min⁄(ε_max=-1) were used for evaluating the mechanical properties. The results showed that the generated peak temperature in the welding joints is affected more significantly by the rotating tool speed, while the exposure time and subsequent cooling rate are controlled by tool traverse speed. The microstructure of nugget zone (NZ) exhibits an elliptical shape with a substantial grain refinement resulted from continuous dynamic recrystallisation (CDR) process with an increase in the fraction of high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs). The evolved grain size was greatly influenced by weld pitch as the ratio between tool traverse speed to tool rotation speed, which is a key parameter to control the amount of heat input, exposure time and cooling rate. In addition, in the case of AMCs more homogeneous distribution of reinforcement particles (SiC) coupled with particle refinement were formed in the NZ. The cross-weld microhardness profile revealed a significant difference in microhardness among the base metals, heat affected zone (HAZ), thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), and NZ in the case of AA 6082 and AMC (AA 6092/SiC/17.5p), as they depend on the strengthening precipitate. Meanwhile, the hardness profile of AMC (AA 6061B/SiC/20p) FSW joints showed that there is no difference in the measured hardness between the welding zone and base materials because the welded joints are exposed to thermal history similar to the initial heat treatment condition of the base metal, T1, cooled from an elevated temperature shaping process and naturally aged. The tensile strength of AA6082, and AMC (AA 6092/SiC/17.5p) cross-weld FSW specimens was found to be lower than their base metals with a joint efficiency (the ratio of the tensile strength of joint to the tensile strength of base metal) of about 71 and 75 %, respectively. While for SAMC (AA 6061B/SiC/20p) FSW joints it is reached 108 % of that of the base metal. The low-cycle fatigue results indicate that the fatigue life of the cross-weld joints varies with grain size in the NZ, and it is always lower than that of the base metal. A significant improvement in fatigue life is found to be related to the finer equiaxed grains dominated by HAGBs in the NZ, as well as, to less gradient in the grain size of the cross-weld. Residual stresses are significant concerns associated with the welding process, as it can combine with applied stresses, which may lead to the reduction of structural properties. The result of residual stress measurement by neutron diffraction techniques exhibited a typical ''M'' profile, which indicates that compressive and tensile residual stress existed in the base metal and welding zone, respectively. This has not only provided an improved understanding of residual stresses in FSW joints but also has contributed to the validation of 3D fully coupled thermo-mechanical finite element (FE) model, which has been developed based on Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) technique. The model is also used to predict the thermal history and material flow in the FSW of aluminium alloy AA6082. The numerical results showed a good agreement with the experimental results.