Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing
Encyclopedia
Mission
Also known as the RCAM, the mission of the center is to promote and apply university led advanced manufacturing research and development work. In order to respond to the industry's needs and to provide the conditions to educate undergraduate and graduate students in the area of manufacturingHistory
The Department of Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
along with SMU School of Engineering
SMU School of Engineering
The Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering is one of the Southwest's institutes of higher learning for students seeking degrees in engineering and technical disciplines. The Southern Methodist University School is divided into five departments, or areas of study...
at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
established the Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM) in September 1999. Activity within RCAM (Center) lies at the interface between science, engineering, and industrial practice. The Center provides the intellectual foundation for industry to collaborate with faculty and students to resolve generic, long-range challenges, thereby producing the knowledge base for steady advances in technology and their speedy transition to the marketplace.
Center Laboratories
The Center is equipped with the most advanced equipment and instrumentation, and is supported by a well equipped machine shop and computing facilities. The Center is housed in the J. Lindsay Embrey Building at Southern Methodist University's main Dallas campus. The Center consists of the following laboratories:- Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Laboratory
- Laser Materials Processing Laboratory
- E-beam Materials Processing Laboratory
- R&D in Welding Laboratory
- Abrasive Waterjet Materials Processing Laboratory
- Friction Stir Welding Laboratory
- Materials Characterization Laboratory
Expertise
The research team has a wide range of technical expertise including the following areas:- Rapid Manufacturing of Functional Parts
- Repair of High Value Parts (engine parts, dies, molds, etc.)
- High Power Laser in Welding/Surface Modification
- Waterjet/Abrasive Waterjet Cutting
- Control and Optimization of Welding Processes
- Application of Friction Stir Welding
- Integration of Machine Vision Systems for Monitoring and Controlling Different Processes
- Integration of Different Positioning Systems, Sensors and Controllers
- Numerical AnalysisNumerical analysisNumerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation for the problems of mathematical analysis ....
: ANSYS Software - Material flow simulation of polymers (MoldFlow Software).
- Application of CAD Software: Pro-E, SolidWorks, AutoCad.
- Application Software: C, C++C++C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
, AssemblyAssembly languageAn assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
Language, LABVIEW, MATLABMATLABMATLAB is a numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language. Developed by MathWorks, MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages,... - Materials Science: SEM, X-Ray Diffraction, Metallographic Characterization
- Development of Control Systems Based on Neural NetworksNeural NetworksNeural Networks is the official journal of the three oldest societies dedicated to research in neural networks: International Neural Network Society, European Neural Network Society and Japanese Neural Network Society, published by Elsevier...
and Fuzzy Logic
The Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, RCAM has recently filed invention disclosures (1 and 2 in the list below) for sensing technologies for variable polarity plasma arc welding (VPPAW) and friction stir welding (FSW) respectively. These sensing technologies would markedly improve the quality control and performance of these processes used by aerospace industries and others. While these new systems have been proven by RCAM to be effective sensing techniques, the laboratory devices currently used are in the prototype stage. Further hardware development and refinement of the analysis and control software will be required to create market-ready systems.