September 14, 2011
School of Engineering, Coimbatore
 

Clean water is necessary for life, but we’re running out of it.
 

Large-scale desalination of sea water may offer a solution to our growing water needs and titanium may be a part of that solution.
 

Titanium is resistant to sea water corrosion, as strong as steel but 45% lighter, and can withstand extreme conditions without breaking. There’s just one problem with this super metal though – it’s super hard to cut.
 

Addressing this problem and more, the Amrita School of Engineering at Coimbatore organized a two-day workshop during August 25-26 on Recent Trends in Machining.
 

Sponsored by Indian research organizations ISRO and DRDO, the workshop brought together engineers, scientists and researchers who learned about the latest trends in metal removal mechanisms, machine tools, advanced cutting tools, machining procedures and processes.
 

Rapid advances in casting complex engineering parts, sand casting prototyping and shell manufacturing were highlighted by Dr. U. Chandrasekhar, Additional Director, Gas Turbine Research Establishment, in his key note address.
 

The Additional Director also discussed applications in medicine and micro air vehicles.
 

Shri. S. Rakesh, Chief General Manager, Composites Entity, ISRO, discussed advances in manufacturing launch vehicle systems, highlighting high speed machining, ultrasonic machining, water jet machining, micro machining, hybrid machining, electron beam welding, super finishing and such advanced manufacturing practices.
 

Delegates attended technical sessions on digital manufacturing, machining dynamics, laser material processing, machining research issues, thin wall structure machining and difficult-to-machine materials.
 

Lectures were delivered by Dr. Dasharathram Yadav, Director of Engineering, DRDL Hyderabad as well as prominent ISRO scientists Shri. Hanamanthray Baluragi and Shri. A.V. Aliyas. Joining them were senior engineers from L&T.
 

Over the two days, delegates reviewed the manufacturing industry’s progress in machine technologies and advanced cutting materials. Research initiatives at ISRO and DRDO as well as Central Manufacturing Technology Institute were discussed.
 

Strengths and challenges of the new High Speed Machining (HSM) technology, was another main topic of discussion.
 

“Compared to conventional cutting methods, HSM offers a more accurate, cost-effective and time-efficient material cutting method, but its machine parameters and tool selection need further development,” stated the lecturer.
 

“The goal in high-speed machining is to achieve a high metal removal rate (MRR) accurately. Geometry and configuration of the machined part determine the MRR,” he explained.
 

Delegates attended a tutorial session on the use of simulation tools such as Abaqus for performing realistic machining simulations.
 

Technical sessions were supplemented with an industrial visit to L&T’s advanced machining facility in Coimbatore as well as the Amrita BioMedical Centre’s precision machining facility on campus.
 

“This workshop was an attempt to explore and understand the latest trends in machining and provide a glimpse of the future of machining processes,” stated Shri. P. Krishnakumar and Shri A. Sumesh, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who coordinated the workshop.
 

“We are happy that by helping stay up-to-date with the latest machining advances, Amrita is taking an important step forward in solving some of the world’s biggest problems.”