Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Education

The Material Science tetrahedron, that sometimes used to define the scope of the subject, connects the concepts of material processing, microstructure, material properties and performance of the material in applications. This can be the foundation for discussing, on the one hand, the importance of manufacturing processes, from heat treatments or consequences of welding and machining to the microstructure of metals to the effects of laser melting or sintering to additive manufactured components. On the other hand, how material properties play an important role in determining manufacturing parameters, such as material removal rates or tool wear rates in machining. The XXXX educational software was developed at the Engineering department of XXXX as the first computer-based materials teaching resource. It consists of two linked databases – one of materials properties and one of manufacturing processes. This is an ideal platform for cross-disciplinary teaching, not only for materials and manufacturing courses, but the embedded tools also support all types of engineering design, from materials and process selection to environmental and sustainability assessment of products. The two main databases contain around 4000 materials and 250 manufacturing processes, with informative images and schematics facilitating understanding. An extensive number of comparable properties are given in individual datasheets. All these properties are possible to visualize in colourful charts that provide good overviews and a good basis for understanding and decision-making. In this paper, relevant educational examples are shown that integrates materials with manufacturing in a natural way. The purpose is to display concepts, stimulate discussion and get feedback on the ideas showcased within.