DSL-732
Assignment 4: Material selection
Use Material selection software to select material for the following three cases:
● Body of electric switch/plug
● Coffee mug
● Cover of mobile phone
Suggest manufacturing process(es) if 500000 units of the above component have to be produced.
1. ELECTRIC PLUG/ SWITCH
Material ABS
Description
ABS (Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) is tough, resilient, and can be molded easily. In general, it is opaque, although some grades are now transparent, and vivid colors can be added. ABS-PVC alloys are tougher than standard ABS and, in self-extinguishing grades, are used for the casings of power tools.
Composition
(CHZ-CH-C6H4)n Image
Supporting information
Typical uses Safety helmets; camper tops; automotive instrument panels and other interior components; pipe fittings; home-security devices and housings for small appliances; communications equipment; business machines; plumbing hardware; automobile grilles; wheel covers; mirror housings; refrigerator liners; luggage shells; tote trays; mower shrouds; boat hulls; large components for recreational vehicles; weather seals; glass beading; refrigerator breaker strips; conduit; pipe for drain-waste-vent (DV) systems.
Production
For the production of 500000 switches, the best method to do is injection molding
2. COFFEE MUG
Material Alumina
Description
Al203 (Alumina) is the workhorse of the technical ceramics industry - it's cheap, easy to process, and it's a great workhorse. Among its applications are spark plugs, electrical insulators, and ceramic substrates for microcircuits. Its single crystal form is sapphire, which is used in watch faces and for cockpit windows in high-speed aircraft. In most cases, it is made by pressing and sintering powder, giving grades ranging from 80 to 99.9% alumina - the rest being porosity, glassy impurities, or deliberately added components. Alumina is white; impurities turn it pink or green. Temperatures increase as the alumina concentration increases. Alumina is both cheap and has a wide range of useful properties, including electrical insulation, high mechanical strength, excellent abrasion and temperature resistance up to 1650 C, excellent chemical stability and moderate thermal conductivity, but it does not withstand severe thermal shocks or impacts. The chrome oxide improves abrasion resistance; sodium silicate improves processability, but at the expense of electrical resistance. These materials include magnesia, silica, and borosilicate glass.
Composition
Al203, often with some porosity and some glassy phase.
Supporting information
Typical uses-
Electrical insulators and connector bodies; substrates; high temperature components; water faucet valves; mechanical seals; vacuum chambers and vessels; centrifuge linings; spur gears; fuse bodies; heating elements; plain bearings and other wear resistant components; cutting tools; substrates for microcircuits; spark plug insulators; tubes for sodium vapor lamps.
Production
This is used for multiple casting and batch-wise baking. For using 50000 units at a time.
3. COVER OF MOBILE PHONE
Material Polyurethane
Description
Think of polyurethanes and you think of the soft, the stretchy, materials and fabrics (Lycra or Spandex). Like PVC, polyurethanes have thermoplastic, elastomeric and thermosetting grades. They are easily foamed; some 40% of all PU is made into foam by mixing it with a blowing agent. The foams can be open- or closed-cell, microcellular or filter grades. They are the strongest of elastomers.
Composition
(CO-NH-R-NH-CO-O-R-0)n
Production
For having a production basis of 50000 units molding can be used for doing the same