This article describes the four basic steps of the purchasing process of cast components. These steps include defining requirements and developing a purchasing plan; requesting and evaluating bids from potential sources; selecting a source and negotiating contract terms; and carrying out the contract and pursuing continuous improvement. It provides guidance on purchasing cast components and explains specific issues and approaches that have proven to be useful in purchasing castings. The article presents a list of the most significant considerations when attempting to determine the overall cost and design requirements of a metal casting.

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) is a systematic methodology for preventing failures. This article begins by discussing the history of RCM and uses Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) all-industry standard JA1011 as its model to describe the key characteristics of an RCM process. It then expands on questions involved in RCM process, offering definitions when necessary. Next, the article describes the approach of RCM to failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), the failure management policies available under RCM, and the criteria of RCM for deciding when a specific failure management policy is technically feasible. Then, after discussing the ways that RCM classifies failure effects in terms of consequences, it describes how RCM uses failure consequences to identify the best failure management policy for each failure mode. Next, the building blocks of RCM are put together to create a failure management program. The article ends with a discussion on some practical issues pertaining to RCM that lie outside the scope of SAE JA1011.

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) is a systematic methodology for preventing failures. This article discusses the history of RCM and describes the key characteristics of an RCM process, which involves asking seven questions. The first four questions comprise a form of failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), and therefore, the article explains the approach of RCM to FMEA and the failure management policies available under RCM. It reviews the ways that RCM classifies failure effects in terms of consequences and details how RCM uses failure consequences to identify the best failure management policy for each failure mode. The article concludes with a discussion on some practical issues pertaining to RCM that lie outside the scope of SAE JA1011.

This article provides a perspective on United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DOD) specifications, standards, handbooks, and related documents, as well as their role in the corrosion prevention and control activities in the U.S. military.

As a failure investigation progresses, the time arrives when the data and results of the various testing and analyses are compiled, compared, and interpreted. Data interpretation should be relatively straightforward for results that align well. However, interpretation can be challenging when results from various tests seem contradictory or inconclusive. Regardless, conclusions must eventually be drawn from the data. This article discusses the processes involved in reviewing data, formulating conclusions, failure analysis report preparation and writing, and providing recommendations and follow-up with appropriate personnel to prevent future failures.

This article defines quality, quality assurance, quality control, and quality management of processes, products, and services. It describes the evolution of quality control and quality assurance in the coatings industry. The article also discusses the standards, quality programs, and certifications in the coatings industry.

This article suggests procedures to increase the availability and function of patterns and tooling. It discusses the common expected failure mechanisms, such as erosion and fatigue, for dies and patterns. A successful maintenance program requires good record keeping for each tool. The article lists information required for the maintenance tooling record and preventive maintenance (PM) items from the North American Die Casting Association's publication E501. It concludes with information on objectives for proper storage of tools and patterns. The objectives are preventing tool degradation, safe workplace, easy location, proximity, and cataloging and tracking.

This article describes the general concepts and practices related to manufacturing and design. It discusses the activities of design and manufacturing by placing it in the context of the business system that they support. The article presents an overview of the manufacturing technology field from a design and material selection perspective. It provides an insight to the complex relationship among design, material selection, and manufacturing. The article offers information on modern design for manufacturing practices that are widely used in the industry.

This article first describes the two methods used in the 1998 U.S. corrosion cost study. In the first method, the cost was determined by summing the costs for corrosion control methods and contract services. In the second, the cost of corrosion was first determined for specific industry sectors and then extrapolated to calculate a national total corrosion cost. The article then reports the results and conclusions of the study. It concludes with information on corrosion prevention strategies.

This article presents an overview of an engineering design process. Though the process is extremely complex, distinct stages of design activities are identified and described. The article illustrates guided iteration methodology that helps in problem solving in design. It describes the engineering conceptual design and configuration design of special-purpose parts. It discusses the parametric design methods of the parts and best practices that are used by successful firms to achieve the goals of quality, cost, time-to-market, and marketing flexibility.

Elastomeric tooling uses rubber details to generate required molding pressure or to serve as a pressure intensifier during composite part curing cycles. This article discusses the various aspects of the forms of commercially available bag-side elastomeric caul systems. It describes the two basic methods, such as the trapped or fixed-volume rubber method and the variable-volume rubber method, of elastomeric tooling, which use the principles of thermal expansion molding. The significant properties and controlling equations that are required to characterize elastomeric tooling material are also discussed.

Value analysis (VA) is a team problem-solving process to improve the value of a product from the viewpoint of a user. This article presents a comparison between VA and total quality management in materials selection and design. It discusses the key attributes, concepts, and activities of the VA. The application of value engineering in U.S. government contracts and the construction industry is reviewed. The article describes the eight phases of the VA process: preparation, information, analysis, creation, synthesis, development, presentation and report, and implementation and follow-up. It presents case studies that illustrate the materials-related aspects of the VA process.

Cutting tool wear is a production management problem for manufacturing industries. It occurs along the cutting edge and on adjacent surfaces. This article describes steady-state wear mechanisms, tertiary wear mechanisms, and tool replacement. It provides information on tool failure and its consequences. The article details the modeling of tool wear by using the Taylor's tool life equation. The article concludes with information on the requirements of a successful tool life testing program: the test plan objective, designing the test, conducting the test, analyzing the results, and applying the results.

This article presents the history of standardization in additive manufacturing (AM). It explains the need and structure for standardization in AM, including the application of AM standards by the industry sector. It also presents the primary purposes of these standards to create AM qualification and certification frameworks.

This article provides an overview of cost analysis in materials selection. It discusses the several categories of alternatives for cost analysis. These include rules of thumb, accounting methods, and analytical methods. The article describes the methods for evaluating materials alternatives on the basis of both direct economic costs and indirect social costs. It considers the life cycle costs of alternative body-in-white designs and life cycle analysis. The various elements of cost are introduced with a case study concerned with the manufacture, use, and disposal of the automobile body-in-white.

This article focuses on the aspects associated with inspection related to pressure vessels and pipework. These aspects include inspection policy, inspection planning and procedures, inspection strategy, inspection methodology, preparation for inspection, invasive inspection, internal visual inspection, and non-invasive inspection. Inspection execution, risk-based inspection, competence assurance of inspection personnel, inspection coverage, inspection periodicity, inspection anomaly criteria, assessment of fitness, and reporting requirements, are also discussed. The article addresses the data acquisition, reporting and trending, and review and audit for the inspection. It reviews inspection techniques, including visual inspection, ultrasonic inspection, and radiographic inspection.

This article provides an overview of the fundamentals, mechanisms, process physics, advantages, and limitations of laser beam welding. It describes the independent and dependent process variables in view of their role in procedure development and process selection. The article includes information on independent process variables such as incident laser beam power and diameter, laser beam spatial distribution, traverse speed, shielding gas, depth of focus and focal position, weld design, and gap size. Dependent variables, including depth of penetration, microstructure and mechanical properties of laser-welded joints, and weld pool geometry, are discussed. The article also reviews the various injuries and electrical and chemical hazards associated with laser beam welding.

This article examines material property data and the information needs at various points in the design, manufacture, and use cycle. It contains a table that lists the various sources of materials data. The article describes locating media for sources of data such as suppliers of databases and internet. It discusses the types of sources of data, including computer readable media, data centers, and print media. The article also reviews the methods for evaluation and interpretation of data and examines the processes of obtaining and reporting test data.

A concise and quantified specification is essential to developing suitable product concepts. This article describes an integrated set of structured methods for identifying the customer population for the product and developing a representation of feature demands. The structured methods include design task probing, customer needs analysis, functional decomposition, and competitive benchmarking for directly mapping customer statements to functional requirements.

This article presents a background of green chemistry and green coatings, and a summary of the key concerns of the green coating procurement process. It includes a discussion on green marketing and the seven sins of greenwashing, an overview of the environmental certification standards and regulatory environments, and the importance of performance during the duty cycle.