Abstract
This special issue contains 13 extended papers presented in the 17th International Conference on Research hosted at Belfast, UK on 10–12 September 2019. These articles present the recent advance of manufacturing research, addressing many important research topics, ranging from advanced machining processes, intelligent control, robotics, to digital twin and cyber physical systems.
The manufacturing sector is a major part of the economy as it accounts for around 16% of the global GDP. We are now experiencing the fourth industrial revolution which is characterized by connected, flexible, agile, reconfigurable and smart manufacturing. Within this context, the article by Singh, Shehab, Higgins, Fowler, Reynolds, Erkoyuncu and Gadd introduces a novel concept of DT ontology model and methodology to address these data management challenges, so that domain knowledge can be transformed into a minimum data model structure to map, query and manage databases for DT applications. The article by Havard, Sahnoun, Bettayeb, Duval and Baudry proposes a database architecture and a data model associated allowing multiple agents to work collaboratively and synchronously to perform high-level tasks, to ensure the interoperability and flexibility of different components in cyber-physical production systems and digital twin. The article by Goher, Shehab and Al-Ashaab reviews current literature on Model-Based Definition and Model-Based Enterprise and point out the issues and challenges in the area from technical, management and certification perspectives. Kong, Liu, Zhou, Niu and Jiang investigated the real-time acquisition method of machine tool processing data and presented a general method of data analysis in different actual application scenarios to solve the general problem of insufficient and inappropriate utilization of machine tools. A framework of general machine tool monitoring system with four layers is proposed and applied to a general cyber machine tools monitoring system, leading to improved utilization of machine tools. Ruiz Zúñiga, Flores-Garcia, Urenda Moris and Syberfeldt introduced a holistic simulation-based optimization methodology for facility layout design.
Robotics is one of the key enablers to implement intelligent distributed manufacturing. The article by Ding, Zhang, Liu, Fu and Huang introduces a novel mobile robotic system for large scale manufacturing, using an integrated fringe-projection-based measurement system to enhance the absolute accuracy of the robotic system. Moussa, Bettayeb, Sahnoun, Duval and Bensrhair propose a two-stage decision approach for transportation task assignments for modular mobile manipulators, based on auction mechanism and a coalition formation process modelled with integer linear programming. Gunawardane, Pathirana, Pallewela and Medagedara develop a control method of soft actuators operated through the Internet by a glove-based gesture control system, which uses Brownian motion model, additive Gaussian noise model and Kalman filter to solve the problems of noises and delays, leading to 17% performance improvement.
Machining is fundamental to many industrial sectors. Current research in machining aims to revolutionize existing processes towards higher quality, higher efficiency and lower energy consumption. The article by Zhang, Luo, Wu and Zhang introduces a stability prediction method for milling processes of thin-walled workpiece for mitigating the chatter effects so as to improve machining quality. The work by Xiao, He, Huang, He, Wang and Wu explores the surface quality of bionic microstructures processed by belt grinding and its effects on aerodynamic performances through simulations and experiments. Peng, Luo, Luo and Ma proposed elliptical gear tooth root transaction curve to replace the traditional fillet curve for enhancing tooth bending performance, that is, reduces the maximum root stress and increase the strength and stiffness of the tooth of the rolling tool. Sarfraz, Shehab, Salonitis, Suder, Niamat and Jamil present an experimental investigation and multi-objective optimization method to identify the optimal process parameters for the best productivity, hole quality and drilling cost. Echo to the green strategy, Khan, He, Zhao, Jamil, Xia, Meng and Gupta investigate the turning processes of hardened steel using Cryo-LN_2 coolant, resulting in 18% less energy consumption and 70.9% lower priced product comparing to conventional emulsion assisted processes.
We thank the authors and reviewers for their contribution and professional work. We thank the production team of the journal to make this special issue a reality. We hope this issue will inspire the authors and wider manufacturing community to continue their contribution to our society.
