Industrial
From Sparks to Strength: Top Welding Techniques You Should Know
From Sparks to Strength: Top Welding Techniques You Should Know Introduction From spark to structural bond—that’s the transformative power of welding. In the iLearn Engineering® article “From Sparks to Strength: Top Welding Techniques You Should Know,” readers are guided through essential welding methods—such as SMAW, MIG, TIG, and spot welding—each selected for strength, speed, or […]
Enhancing Materials: A Look into Surface Treatment Processes
Enhancing Materials: A Look into Surface Treatment Processes Introduction In manufacturing, selecting a material with the right bulk properties is only half the story. The performance of a component often hinges on what happens at its surface. The iLearn Engineering® article explores how various surface treatment processes—from coatings and plating, to shot peening, anodizing, and […]
How Material Removal Rate Affects Surface Quality and Production Speed
How Material Removal Rate Affects Surface Quality and Production Speed Introduction When machining components, one of the most critical—and often overlooked—factors is the material removal rate (MRR). It’s a common assumption that increasing MRR boosts productivity. However, as this iLearn Engineering article explains, this simple equation comes with important trade‑offs. Pushing MRR too high can […]
How Manufacturing Affects the Mechanical Properties of Materials
How Manufacturing Affects the Mechanical Properties of Materials Introduction Manufacturing doesn’t just shape a material—it fundamentally alters how it behaves. Engineers often select materials based on desired properties like strength, ductility, hardness, or fatigue resistance. But those properties are not fixed. They evolve throughout the manufacturing process. This article explores how processes such as casting, […]
Inside the World of Metal Machining: Behaviours and Challenges
Inside the World of Metal Machining: Behaviours and Challenges Introduction In the world of modern manufacturing, metal machining remains a cornerstone process, yet it’s far from simple. As detailed in the iLearn Engineering article, machining metals—whether through turning, milling, drilling, or grinding—involves navigating a complex interplay of material properties, tool dynamics, and process parameters. Metals […]
Unpacking the Machining Response of Composite Materials
Unpacking the Machining Response of Composite Materials Introduction In modern manufacturing, composite materials—notably carbon and glass fibre reinforced polymers—are valued for their lightweight strength and design flexibility. Yet machining these advanced materials reveals unique challenges that set them apart from traditional metals. Unlike homogeneous alloys, composites are heterogeneous, combining hard, abrasive fibres with softer matrix […]
Essential Formulas for Calculating Drilling Parameters
Essential Formulas for Calculating Drilling Parameters When it comes to precision and efficiency in manufacturing, few processes are as foundational—or as critical—as drilling. Whether you’re a seasoned engineer or a student entering the world of mechanical or industrial engineering, understanding how to correctly calculate drilling parameters can significantly impact the quality of your work, the […]
From Raw Material to Refined Component: The Role of Drilling and Turning
From Raw Material to Refined Component: The Role of Drilling and Turning Secondary processes are used in manufacturing to further modify the output of primary manufacturing processes in order to improve the material properties, surface quality, surface integrity, appearance and dimensional tolerance. In this blog, we will focus on drilling and turning as secondary manufacturing […]
Behind the Cutter: How Milling Shapes the Future of Manufacturing
Behind the Cutter: How Milling Shapes the Future of Manufacturing Secondary processes are used in manufacturing to further modify the output of primary manufacturing processes in order to improve the material properties, surface quality, surface integrity, appearance and dimensional tolerance. In this blog, we will focus on milling as a secondary manufacturing process. Machining refers […]
What is joining and why is it important in Engineering?
What is joining and why is it important in Engineering? Joining can be considered the third primary manufacturing process, it is an important step in the manufacture of parts with complex shapes, or unusual geometric features. Using the primary processes of casting and forming, it may not be technically or economically feasible to create parts […]
Forming the Future of Manufacturing
Forming the Future of Manufacturing Forming is a widely used manufacturing process, especially for metals. During forming, the metal is plastically (permanently) deformed by exerting it to forces above its yield strength where strain hardening occurs. To perform forming, the material should have a relatively low yield strength and high ductility, while strain rate and […]
Cutting-Edge Manufacturing: Exploring Advanced Techniques Shaping the Future
Cutting-Edge Manufacturing: Exploring Advanced Techniques Shaping the Future In this article we will look at some of the more advanced manufacturing processes which are widely used in today’s manufacturing industry: Additive Manufacture Additive manufacture (also known as additive layer manufacturing) is a manufacturing technique where parts are created by depositing or adding layers of material […]
What is casting and why is it important in Engineering?
What is casting and why is it important in Engineering? The first stage of any manufacturing process is to turn the raw material into a usable shape or billet. We call this first step the primary manufacturing processes and we will introduce the 3 main types, casting, forming, and joining. Close dimensional tolerance cannot be […]
How can we select engineering materials?
How can we select engineering materials? In our previous article, we looked at elastic and magnetic hysteresis. In this article, we’re going to look at how we can select engineering materials. In other articles, we have previously looked at the different materials and their properties. However, it’s important that engineers understand how we can go […]
What is hysteresis?
What is hysteresis? In our previous article, we looked at the material modes of failure we need to be aware of in engineering. In this article we’re going to dive into elastic and magnetic hysteresis. Elastic Hysteresis Elastic hysteresis is the difference in strain of a material during loading of stress or strain, versus during […]
What are material modes of failure?
What are material modes of failure? In our previous article we looked at the properties of engineering materials. In this article, we’re going to dive into material modes of failure and what they are. What is failure? The definition of failure is that the component is no longer fit for use or its designed purpose. […]
What are the properties of engineering materials?
What are the properties of engineering materials? In our last article, we looked at engineering materials and their atomic structure. Now we’re going to dive into the properties of engineering materials. There are several different properties that apply to engineering materials, and we’re going to look at an overview of each of them. Physical Properties […]
Engineering materials and their atomic structure
Engineering materials and their atomic structure In our last article, we looked at how we can apply Bernoulli’s principle to engineering problems. Now we’re going to dive into engineering materials and their atomic structure. Engineering Materials Engineering can be defined as the application of science and technology to create or produce something. In order to […]
How do we go about specifying customer needs?
How do we go about specifying customer needs? In any construction project there will be a customer – the person or organisation who wants the building(s) detailed in the project. It’s the customer who tells us what they want, when, and how much of a budget they might have. It’s easy to see how what […]
How does the grain size affect the strength of a material?
How does the grain size affect the strength of a material? In this article we are going to focus on how the grain size impacts on yield strength. What is a grain? A crystal can be modelled as a unit lattice in which atoms are arranged in a specific position, when a group of crystals […]
Material deformation techniques
Material deformation techniques This article discusses various methods where materials are forcibly deformed, and their physical or microstructural properties are altered. This is done to enhance certain mechanical or electrical properties. The deformation usually takes place at high or low temperatures, and this is reflected in the naming of the process. Cold Working This process […]
What is Mechanical Testing of Engineering Materials?
This article will investigate the various ways in which mechanical testing techniques can be applied to engineering materials.
Solid Solution Strengthening
High purity metals, while useful, are often softer and weaker than their alloys. The mechanical properties such as yield strength and...
Dispersion strengthening
What is dispersion strengthening? Dispersion strengthening is a process carried out to improve the properties of metals by adding...
Engineering Projects – The critical path
Following on from our last article on engineering projects - planning for success (catch up here), this article expands on project...
Engineering Projects – Planning for success!
Being an engineer is much more than just performing calculations and making drawings. In the real-world, professional engineers are...
Understanding Variation in Manufacturing
Variation is defined as “a change or slight difference in condition, amount, or level, typically within certain limits.” In this article...
Engineering Materials…What ‘stuff’ is made from
Engineering can be defined as the application of science and technology to create or produce something of use. In order to ‘produce’...