The subject of this week is continuous casting

" Casting is a manufacturing process by which a liquid material is introduced into a mould, allowed to solidify within the mould, and then ejected or broken out to make a fabricated part. Casting is used for making parts of complex shape that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods, such as cutting from solid material. Casting may be used to form hot, liquid metals or meltable plastics (called thermoplastics), or various materials that cold set after mixing of components such as certain plastic resins such as epoxy, water setting materials such as concrete or plaster, and materials that become liquid or paste when moist such as clay, which when dry enough to be rigid is removed from the mold, further dried, and fired in a kiln or furnace.
Substitution is always a factor in deciding whether other techniques should be used instead of casting. Alternatives include parts that can be stamped out on a punch press or deep-drawn, forged, items that can be manufactured by extrusion or by cold-bending, and parts that can be made from highly active metals" "Wikipedia"

Enjoy the technical video: http://www.mechanicalengineering.tv/videos/continuous-casting

The subject of this week is Powder Metallurgy

"Powder metallurgy is a forming and fabrication technique consisting of three major processing stages. First, the primary material is physically powdered, divided into many small individual particles. Next, the powder is injected into a mold or passed through a die to produce a weakly cohesive structure (via cold welding) very near the dimensions of the object ultimately to be manufactured. Finally, the end part is formed by applying pressure, high temperature, long setting times (during which self-welding occurs), or any combination thereof." "Wikipedia"

Enjoy the video: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-item.pl?DV03PUB20&2&SME&

The subject of this week is chariot

"In preparation for the U.S.-led effort to build a lunar outpost, NASA has completed the first lunar truck prototype, named Chariot. The vehicle is designed to meet the payload transport, range, terrain and speed specifications defined by NASA's Lunar Architecture Team. This video shows the Chariot climbing a simulated lunar hill" .

Enjoy the video: http://chariot.jsc.nasa.gov/videos/vid-5.html

The subject of this week is Blow Molding

"In Extrusion Blow Molding (EBM), plastic is melted and extruded into a hollow tube (a parison). This parison is then captured by closing it into a cooled metal mold. Air is then blown into the parison, inflating it into the shape of the hollow bottle, container or part. After the plastic has cooled sufficiently, the mold is opened and the part is ejected" "Wikipedia", "the Video was submitted by Abdullah Al-Dossary & Abd ALAZIZ Aseeri"

Enjoy the video: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-item.pl?DV03PUB21&2&SME&

The subject of this week is Gear Manufacturing

"A gear is a component within a transmission device that transmits rotational force to another gear or device. A gear is different from a pulley in that a gear is a round wheel which has linkages ("teeth" or "cogs") that mesh with other gear teeth, allowing force to be fully transferred without slippage. Depending on their construction and arrangement, geared devices can transmit forces at different speeds, torques, or in a different direction, from the power source. Gears are a very useful simple machine. The most common situation is for a gear to mesh with another gear, but a gear can mesh with any device having compatible teeth, such as other rotational gears, or linear moving racks.
A gear's most important feature is that gears of unequal sizes (diameters) can be combined to produce a mechanical advantage, so that the rotational speed and torque of the second gear are different from that of the first. In the context of a particular machine, the term "gear" also refers to one particular arrangement of gears among other arrangements (such as "first gear"). Such arrangements are often given as a ratio, using the number of teeth or gear diameter as units." "Wikipedia",

Enjoy the video: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-item.pl?DV03PUB29&2&SME&

The subject of this week is Powder Coating

"Powder coating is a type of dry coating, which is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. The main difference between a conventional liquid paint and a powder coating is that the powder coating does not require a solvent to keep the binder and filler parts in a liquid suspension form. The coating is typically applied electrostatically and is then cured under heat to allow it to flow and form a "skin".
The powder may be a thermoplastic or a thermoset polymer. It is usually used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint. Powder coating is mainly used for coating of metals, such as "white goods", aluminium extrusions, and automobile and motorcycle parts. Newer technologies allow other materials, such as MDF (medium-density fibreboard), to be powder coated using different methods." "Wikipedia"

Enjoy the video: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-item.pl?DV03PUB26&2&SME&