Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation
International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation

 

Special Issue on: "Advances in Modelling and Optimization of Materials and Manufacturing Processes"


Guest Editors:
Professor R. Venkata Rao, S. V. National Institute of Technology, India
Professor J. Paulo Davim, University of Aveiro, Portugal


An ever increasing variety of materials is available today, with each having its own characteristics, applications, advantages, and limitations. Many issues, such as better utilization of raw materials and energy, integration of design and manufacturing activities requiring the invention of suitable new manufacturing processes and techniques, still need to be dealt with. Today's manufacturing processes are caught between the growing need for quality, high process safety, minimal manufacturing costs, and short manufacturing times. Manufacturing process modelling and optimization not only remains an ongoing activity but has also becoming increasingly important in industry in the drive towards ‘agile manufacturing’.

In order to meet these demands, manufacturing process setting parameters have to be chosen in the best possible way, according to demand on quality. For such optimization, it is necessary to represent the manufacturing processes in a model. Due to the enormous complexity of many manufacturing processes and the high number of influencing parameters, however, conventional approaches to modelling and optimization are no longer sufficient. Accuracy and possibility of determining global optimum solution depend on the type of modelling technique used to express the objective functions and constraints in terms of the decision variables.

Accurate and reliable models of manufacturing processes can compensate for the inability to completely understand and adequately describe the process mechanism. Formulation of an optimization model is the most important task in the optimization process. It involves identifying the decision variables to be optimized, expressing the objective functions and constraints as function of decision variables, setting up of feasible ranges for decision variables (known as variable bounds), and finally expressing the optimization problem as a mathematical model in a standard format, which can be directly solved by an optimization algorithm. As the manufacturing processes get more and more complex, the process models are possibly discontinuous, non-differentiable, or non-explicit with the design variables. To solve the related optimization problems, one must resort to advanced modelling and optimization techniques.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to advanced modelling and optimization of various materials and manufacturing processes. The issue encourages submissions from all over the world that expand the frontiers of the fundamental theories and concepts underlying materials and manufacturing processes and their modelling and optimization techniques.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Advanced modelling and optimization techniques:
  • Statistical analyses
  • Response surface methodology
  • Taguchi’s robust design method/Taguchi fuzzy based approach/Taguchi and Gauss elimination method
  • Fuzzy set theory based modelling
  • Finite element modelling/simulation
  • Grey relational analysis/grey fuzzy logic
  • Artificial neural networks (ANN)/neuro-fuzzy methods/neuro-fuzzy Taguchi network
  • Knowledge based expert systems
  • Metaheuristic optimization techniques in deterministic and stochastic environments for single as well as multiple objectives (genetic algorithms and its versions such as NSGA, NSGA-II, MOGA, differential evolution, etc., simulated annealing, inverse evolutionary approach, tabu search, particle swarm optimization, civilized swarm optimization, ant colony optimization, artificial immune algorithm, harmony search algorithm, harmony elements algorithm, artificial bee colony algorithm, shuffled frog leaping algorithm, hybrid approaches such as GA+SA, GA+Tabu search, GA+ PSO, etc.)
Materials and manufacturing processes:
  • Materials
    • Ferrous alloys, nonferrous alloys, polymers, ceramics and glasses, composites, biomaterials, nanomaterials, special materials, etc.
  • Materials behaviour
    • Microstructure and mechanical properties, heat treatments, creep, fatigue, fracture, friction and wear, corrosion, coatings, material selection, etc.
  • Casting processes
    • Sand casting, pressure die casting, investment casting, continuous casting, shell moulding, vacuum sealed casting, high speed casting, injection moulding, etc.
  • Joining processes
    • Welding processes (shielded metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, gas metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, friction welding, friction stir welding, plasma arc welding, laser welding, electron beam welding, resistance welding, explosive welding, etc.)
    • Brazing processes
    • Soldering processes
  • Forming processes
    • Bulk forming processes (rolling processes (shape rolling, ring rolling, thread rolling, spray rolling, flat rolling, etc.), forging processes (high precision forging, injection forging, die forging, etc.), drawing processes (bar drawing, wire drawing, tube drawing, hydrodynamic drawing, etc.), extrusion processes (profile extrusion, backward extrusion, axi-symmetric extrusion, hollow extrusion, hydrodynamic extrusion, semi-solid extrusion, etc.), incremental bulk forming process, etc.
    • Sheet forming processes (bending of plates and cylinders, stretch forming, hydro-forming, deep drawing, spinning, blanking and piercing, electro-magnetic forming, explosive forming, semi-solid forming, incremental sheet forming, etc.
  • Powder metallurgy processes
    • Sintering, cold spraying, plasma arc surfacing, laser cladding, etc.
  • Machining processes
    • Turning, drilling, milling, grinding, and finishing processes
  • Modern machining processes
    • Mechanical processes
    • Electro-chemical processe
    • Chemical processes
    • Thermal and electro-thermal processes
    • Hybrid machining processes
  • Manufacturing processes for polymers and composites
    • Pultrusion, filament winding, resin transfer moulding, 3-D weaving, adhesive bonding, thermoforming, injection moulding, etc.
  • Manufacturing processes for ceramics and glasses
    • Fusion casting, slip casting, sintering, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), glass forming, controlled devitrification, sol-gel processing, biomimetic processing, self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS), etc.
  • Micromachining processes
    • Micro EDM, micro welding, micro forming, micro drilling, micro milling, micromachining using abrasive jets, etc.
  • Nano-finishing processes
    • Abrasive flow machining, magnetic abrasive finishing, ELID grinding, etc.
  • Ecological manufacturing processes
    • Selection of cleaner production measures, environmental compatibility and energy demands of manufacturing processes, cryogenic machining, dry machining, machining with solid lubricants, cryogenic forming, etc.

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page


Important Dates

Submission: 31 March 2011