New process technology strategies are required to cope with the future. Fossil feedstocks are losing ground in favour of renewable feedstocks and secondary resources. Conventional processing routes using thermal `sledgehammer' techniques are replaced by highly selective (bio)catalytic conversions. The future process engineer is neither allowed to think in terms of unit operations, nor to take for granted the conventional practice of continuous steady state processing. Hybrid systems and transient operations are more and more frequently encountered. The continuing impressive progress being made in process modelling and control will revolutionize the process industries. In the new generation of chemical production processes the keyword is precision. Precision in terms of selectivity and of efficiency, is required to maximize the utilisation of materials and energy. Moreover, enhanced precision is needed to exploit the quality of materials and energy to the full extent. Only by reducing the squandering of materials, energy and quality will a harmonious relationship be established between the process industries, the economy, and the environment. Process integration, as well as an integrated effort by the disciplines involved in process technology, will be of crucial importance in attaining the goals of precision process technology. These emerging strategies involve an active exchange of tools and ideas between a variety of disciplines, not only in plant design and operation, but even more in the early stages of process development and design. By looking from various angles at what the future has in store for the process industries, this volume systematically lifts the corners of the veil and may inspire to establish a new tradition of precision in process technology.

Precision Manufacturing provides an introduction to precision engineering for manufacturing. With an emphasis on design and performance of precision machinery for manufacturing – machine tool elements and structure, sources of error, precision machining processes and process models sensors for process monitoring and control, metrology, actuators, and machine design. This book will be of interest to design engineers, quality engineers and manufacturing engineers, academics and those who may or may not have previous experience with precision manufacturing, but want to learn more.

Manufacturing, reduced to its simplest form, involves the sequencing of product forms through a number of different processes. Each individual step, known as an unit manufacturing process, can be viewed as the fundamental building block of a nation's manufacturing capability. A committee of the National Research Council has prepared a report to help define national priorities for research in unit processes. It contains an organizing framework for unit process families, criteria for determining the criticality of a process or manufacturing technology, examples of research opportunities, and a prioritized list of enabling technologies that can lead to the manufacture of products of superior quality at competitive costs. The study was performed under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation and the Defense Department's Manufacturing Technology Program.

This book provides details on various micro and precision manufacturing and finishing operations performed by conventional and advanced processes, including micro-manufacturing of micro-tools and precision finishing of engineered components. It describes the process mechanism, principles and parameters while performing micro-fabrication and precision finishing operations. The text provides the readers with knowledge of micro and precision manufacturing and encourages them to explore the future venues in this field.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a fast-growing sector with the ability to evoke a revolution in manufacturing due to its almost unlimited design freedom and its capability to produce personalised parts locally and with efficient material use. AM companies, however, still face technological challenges such as limited precision due to shrinkage, built-in stresses and limited process stability and robustness. Moreover, often post-processing is needed due to high roughness and remaining porosity. Qualified, trained personnel are also in short supply. In recent years, there have been dramatic improvements in AM design methods, process control, post-processing, material properties and material range. However, if AM is going to gain a significant market share, it must be developed into a true precision manufacturing method. The production of precision parts relies on three principles: Production is robust (i.e. all sensitive parameters can be controlled). Production is predictable (for example, the shrinkage that occurs is acceptable because it can be predicted and compensated in the design). Parts are measurable (as without metrology, accuracy, repeatability and quality assurance cannot be known). AM of metals is inherently a high-energy process with many sensitive and inter-related process parameters, making it susceptible to thermal distortions, defects and process drift. The complete modelling of these processes is beyond current computational power, and novel methods are needed to practicably predict performance and inform design. In addition, metal AM produces highly textured surfaces and complex surface features that stretch the limits of contemporary metrology. With so many factors to consider, there is a significant shortage of background material on how to inject precision into AM processes. Shortage in such material is an important barrier for a wider uptake of advanced manufacturing technologies, and a comprehensive book is thus needed. This book aims to inform the reader how to improve the precision of metal AM processes by tackling the three principles of robustness, predictability and metrology, and by developing computer-aided engineering methods that empower rather than limit AM design. Richard Leach is a professor in metrology at the University of Nottingham and heads up the Manufacturing Metrology Team. Prior to this position, he was at the National Physical Laboratory from 1990 to 2014. His primary love is instrument building, from concept to final installation, and his current interests are the dimensional measurement of precision and additive manufactured structures. His research themes include the measurement of surface topography, the development of methods for measuring 3D structures, the development of methods for controlling large surfaces to high resolution in industrial applications and the traceability of X-ray computed tomography. He is a leader of several professional societies and a visiting professor at Loughborough University and the Harbin Institute of Technology. Simone Carmignato is a professor in manufacturing engineering at the University of Padua. His main research activities are in the areas of precision manufacturing, dimensional metrology and industrial computed tomography. He is the author of books and hundreds of scientific papers, and he is an active member of leading technical and scientific societies. He has been chairman, organiser and keynote speaker for several international conferences, and received national and international awards, including the Taylor Medal from CIRP, the International Academy for Production Engineering.

CMP and polishing are the most precise processes used to finish the surfaces of mechanical and electronic or semiconductor components. Advances in CMP/Polishing Technologies for Manufacture of Electronic Devices presents the latest developments and technological innovations in the field - making cutting-edge R&D accessible to the wider engineering community. Most of the applications of these processes are kept as confidential as possible (proprietary information), and specific details are not seen in professional or technical journals and magazines. This book makes these processes and applications accessible to a wider industrial and academic audience. Building on the fundamentals of tribology - the science of friction, wear and lubrication - the authors explore the practical applications of CMP and polishing across various market sectors. Due to the high pace of development of the electronics and semiconductors industry, many of the presented processes and applications come from these industries. Demystifies scientific developments and technological innovations, opening them up for new applications and process improvements in the semiconductor industry and other areas of precision engineering Explores stock removal mechanisms in CMP and polishing, and the challenges involved in predicting the outcomes of abrasive processes in high-precision environments The authors bring together the latest innovations and research from the USA and Japan

This book provides a review of precision agriculture technology development, followed by a presentation of the state-of-the-art and future requirements of precision agriculture technology. It presents different styles of precision agriculture technologies suitable for large scale mechanized farming; highly automated community-based mechanized production; and fully mechanized farming practices commonly seen in emerging economic regions. The book emphasizes the introduction of core technical features of sensing, data processing and interpretation technologies, crop modeling and production control theory, intelligent machinery and field robots for precision agriculture production.