A laboratory where engineers, geologists and metalsmiths can all make strides in teaching and research will soon be a reality on campus thanks to a major National Science Foundation grant.

Housed in the Manufacturing Research Center, the more than $304,000 lab will offer the entire university a one-stop design and machining center to support research, education and industry. The lab will be comprised of four main pieces of equipment: a five-axis computer numeric control machine, a rapid prototyping machine, a 3-D digital scanner and a coordinate measuring machine.

"It is rare for companies to have some of this type of equipment on site, and still rarer for universities to have these four important pieces available," says Mechanical Engineering Professor Kwun-Lon Ting, who directed the grant proposal.

The five-axis CNC machine allows a computer to control the cutting of complex objects that require high precision and directional control. The 3-D scanner is like a camera capable of taking a 3-D photo and storing it as data. Software then transforms the data into a computer-aided design model to produce a 3-D model for production.

The coordinate measuring machine has a robot-like finger that touches an object and collects data. Our CMM will also be equipped with a motorized finger to automate the measuring process. It will have the capability of a scanner, but with much higher precision.

"It is like a blind person using his or her fingers to sense the location and shape of an object," says Ting.

One-stop design, machining
The equipment with the greatest "wow" factor is the rapid prototyping machine, which quickly and inexpensively produces a prototype from a computer model.

"It works like a 3-D copier, printing layer by layer," explains Ting. "It reproduces an object from one piece of material and can produce an object that cannot be manufactured in a conventional process."

With these machines, researchers will gain the tools to produce prototypes of their original designs or reproduce existing objects. The center can also offer industries its services in this area.

Ting solicited applications from researchers across campus, regardless of academic discipline. The responses created a proposal that embraces the needs of artists and earth scientists as well as engineers. The proposals show how this lab will open up opportunities unavailable to faculty and students until now.

In their ongoing NSF research, Ting and doctoral student Yi Zhang are developing a new tool configuration theory. With the new five-axis machine, they can test and implement their concept.

"The tool path generation process of a five-axis machine is very difficult and time consuming," says Ting. "If the process can be automated, the power of five-axis machines can be harnessed and used effectively."

Ting and his students are also developing a project focusing on geometric design and manufacturing integration.

Spanning disciplines
Robert Coogan, head of the Craft Center's metals studio, has worked with similar equipment at the University of Central England. He proposes using the lab to help metals artists learn to design and reproduce their original works, allowing professionals to better compete in the marketplace. A second area of research could include enabling physically impaired artists to work in a field previously closed to them.

Civil & Environmental Engineering’s Jane Liu and Mechanical Engineering’s Ying Zhang propose working with high temperature corrosion-protective coatings such as those used in aircraft and land-based turbine applications.

Mechanical Engineering’s Darrell Hoy will use the lab to enhance research in stress analysis and photoelasticity.

Ting, along with a doctoral student and Mechanical Engineering’s Stephen Canfield, will work with compliant mechanisms, devices made of one piece of material with no joints or links, to reduce wear, weight, vibration, noise, lubrication need and effort in assembly processes.

Mechanical Engineering’s Mark Jackson’s work with micro- and nanotechnology will be aided by the ability to produce currently unavailable miniaturized machine tools.

Peter Li in Earth Sciences plans to develop virtual reality models based on geographic information system data to study climate change, pollution, and other elements of an area in a controlled environment.

The lab will be a CMR showcase that welcomes visitors, recruits high school students and hosts summer workshops.

For example, Industrial & Manufacturing Technology’s Ismail Fidan foresees using the lab as part of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Show as well as for design and machining classes. Mechanical Engineering’s Sally Pardue plans to incorporate the lab into the "Engineering A Future" summer workshop for young women.

"We are excited," says Ting. "This lab will help us recruit future students, educate current students and expand our research efforts."

Pictured above: Samples of prototypes made with the type of machinery the new lab will have, including a prototype gear that can fit on the tip of a finger.