Future Trends In Mechanical Engineering

The mechanical engineer field requires understanding of core ideas of  mechanics , dynamics, thermodynamics, material science, structural analysis and electricity. In addition  to these core principles, mechanical engineers use tool such as CAM , CAD and product life management to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment’s and machinery , heating and cooling systems transport system, aircraft, warcraft, robotics, medical device, weapons, and others. It is the branch engineering that involves design, production, and operation of machinery 

Top 5  future emerging technologies in mechanical engineering

1.4D  Printing Technology

The 4D printing is also known as 4D bioprinting ,active origami, or shape-morphing system uses the same technique of 3D printing  through computer programmed deposition of material in successive layer to create three dimensional object .This 4D technology is still in the early phase of research and development. This technology has been used in few labs or prototyping facilities.

2.Flywheel Energy Storage

In energy storage, the principle of the flywheel can be used. Flywheel store energy in the form of the angular momentum of a spinning mass called a rotor. The work done to spin the mass is stored in the form of Kinetic energy. Flywheels allowed the development of more complex machines such as steam engine and internal combustion engines by enabling the delivery of constant, continuous power form a pulsating power source. Flywheel continue to have a broad variety of applications of mechanical system   

3. Friction Stir  Welding

Friction Stir Welding(FSW) is a solid state joining process that creates extremely high-quality high-strength joints with low distortion. A non-consumable spinning tool bit is inserted into a workpiece. The rotation of the tool creates the friction that heats the material to plastic state. As the tool traverse the weld joint, it extrudes material in a distinctive flow pattern and forges the material in its wake. The resulting solid phase bond joint the two piece into one. This process uses no outside (filler) material, no shielding gases, and requires low energy input when compared to other welding process.

4.Industry 4.0(Fourth Industrial Revolution)

Industry 4.0  encapsulates future industry development trends to achieve more intelligent manufacturing processes, including reliance on cyber-physical system, the internet of things, cloud computing, and cognitive  computive  which leads to implementation and operation of smart factories. The concept of industry 4.0 promises many positive changes to today’s manufacturing, including mass customization, flexible production, increased production speed, high product quality, etc…,

5.Metal 3D Printing

Metal 3D printing is a type of Additive  Manufacturing Technology , it is a tool  less manufacturing method can produce fully dense metallic part in short time, with high precision, freedom of part design, part complexity, light weighting, part consolidation. The 3D printer needs a CAD (computer aided design) to start the process, creating a detailed image from all angles of the desired design. Once the CAD software has been used to complete the design, it then needs to be converted into a .STL (stereolithography) format to enable the 3D metal printer to interpret the instruction