Course syllabus

MPR034 Manufacturing Processes

Course Handbook

 

MPR034 Manufacturing Processes, SP1, 2025/2026, 7.5 credits

M.Sc. Programme in Production Engineering

 

Examiner           Peter Krajnik (PK)          

                            031-772 1311

                            peter.krajnik@chalmers.se

 

Teachers           Peter Krajnik (PK)

                            Gustav Holmqvist (GH) 

                            Peter Hammersberg (PHA)      

                              Philipp Hoier (PHO)

 

Guest                 Danilo Quagliotti (DQ) Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

lecturers            Magnus Wahlgård (MW) SKF

                              Jannik Henser (JH) Scania

                    

Lab

instructor           Philipp Hoier (PHO)

                                               

Course purpose

The course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the principles and recent advancements in the manufacturing processes used to produce precision engineering components, primarily in metals. The course will focus on the fundamental aspects of manufacturing processes and will also demonstrate various use cases of their applications. The students will acquire knowledge related to the mechanics involved in metal cutting and forming, as well as insight into important areas of related technologies such as machine tools and metalworking fluids. The objective is to familiarize students with some typical challenges that production engineers encounter in practice, which include process quality and robustness, process selection, and sustainable manufacturing.

 

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student should be able to:

• Describe various manufacturing processes with consideration to their applications, economic viability, and sustainability, across various scales.
• Explain the role of manufacturing processes in a wider production-system context, including the roles of machine tools, tooling solutions and metalworking fluids with respect to a certain production volume.
• Understand and explain the relationship between the basic function of a manufacturing process, the tools utilized, and the resulting quality characteristics (such as obtained tolerances and surface integrity of components).
• Select a manufacturing process in the context of a production value chain for a manufactured component.
• Provide a description of the manufacturing process for some of the most common components in the industry.
• Describe the fundamental mechanics of various manufacturing processes.

 

Contents

The course covers both conventional and non-conventional manufacturing processes and examines their material, economic, and sustainability aspects. Basic knowledge of metal cutting and forming will be provided with additional emphasis on advanced applications and industry case studies. Processes covered include sheet metal forming, metal cutting, and machining with abrasives – such as grinding and fine-finishing technologies. Additionally, non-conventional processes are discussed, including laser beam, waterjet, and electrical discharge machining. Joining processes are also covered. Contemporary topics include the manufacture of gears and digitalization efforts.

 

Organization and structure

• The course is an in-person instruction held at Chalmers’ Johanneberg campus. This refers both to lectures and labs in the Material Processing Laboratory.
• The remote learning outside of the classroom provides you with the flexibility to delve deeper into the subject area. During this time, you can revisit the lecture handouts, read papers (not mandatory), and work on the assignments.
• Moreover, there is a mandatory grinding lab associated with the lectures.

 

Assignments

The following compulsory assignments are included in the course (1.5 credits):

 

Assignment 1: Process selection and comparison

Questions: Gustav Holmqvist, gustav.holmqvist@chalmers.se

 

First, conduct a computer independently using Granta, a process-screening software. The software can be downloaded or found in computer rooms. Report the results by answering a set of questions in a short report. The second portion of the assignment involves comparing of two processes based on published research literature. Note that this report substantial and time-consuming, completed in groups of four students.

 

Feedback and assessment: Written, Passed/Rework.

 

Assignment 2: Deep drawing (sheet metal forming)

Questions: Gustav Holmqvist, gustav.holmqvist@chalmers.se

 

This is an assignment where you will be given input data. Basic theoretical calculations for deep drawing will be performed and formability will be evaluated. You will work on this assignment on your own, but the submission will be done in groups of two students. Registration for groups will be done online through the course home page.

 

Feedback and assessment: Correct answers will be uploaded for your own review.

 

Assignment 3: Grinding lab and report: The role of specific energy in grinding

Questions: Philipp Hoier, hoierp@chalmers.se

The aim of the grinding lab is to perform a series of surface grinding tests while varying the grinding parameters. During the tests, the power of the main spindle will be measured using a trace function of the machine’s CNC control; recording the time variation of electrical power consumption in the servo drive. From these measurements you will be required to determine the specific grinding energy curve and discuss its implications in relation to the grinding parameters used.

Feedback: Oral/Written.

 

Bonus assignment: Enhancing learning through reading

Questions: Peter Krajnik, krajnik@chalmers.se

* Not compulsory

The purpose of the reading assignment is to teach students how to read academic articles and make basic interpretations. In addition, the reading assignment will give the students an insight into manufacturing science. This assignment is not compulsory. No report is needed, but you can earn 10 bonus points on the exam because bonus exam questions will be derived from this assignment.

Feedback: Result of the exam

 

Course home page

PDF handouts from lectures, the latest version of the course handbook, lecture announcements, and readings can be found on the course homepage. Signing up for assignments and submitting assignment reports is done through Canvas.

 

Literature

No textbooks are required for this course. Each lecture will be accompanied by handouts that will be made available on the course homepage in Canvas. Presentations, i.e., lecture handouts, will provide all the necessary teaching material. Supplemental readings (e.g., research articles) will be provided in the form of PDF files.

 

Examination

The course will be assessed by a written exam which will determine the course grade.

 

The assignments/lab are reported separately in Ladok (and give a total of 1.5 credits). The mandatory requirements here are approval of all assignment reports.

 

The exam and completed assignments are required for final course approval.

 

Schedule

 

Week	Date	Time	Topic	Classroom	Teacher
36	Tue 2/9	08:00-08:45	Course introduction	EE	PK
		09:00-10:45	Principles of manufacturing		PK
	Wed 3/9	08:00-09:45	Quality & robustness of manufacturing processes	EE	PHA
	Fri 5/9	10:00-11:45	Manufacturing process selection and sustainability	EE	GH
37	Tue 9/9	10:00-11:45	Manufactured surfaces: properties and measurements	EE	DQ
	Wed 10/9	08:00-09:45	Laser machining & EDM	EE	GH
	Fri 12/9	10:00-11:45	Waterjet machining	EE	GH
38	Tue 16/9	08:00-10:45	Machining processes	EE	PK
	Wed 17/9	08:00-09:45	Machinability of materials	EE	PK
	Fri 19/9	10:00-11:45	Metalworking fluids	EE	PK
39	Tue 23/9	10:00-11:45	Processes for manufacturing of gears	EE	JH
	Wed 24/9	08:00-09:45	Metal-cutting & metal-forming machines	EE	PK
	Fri 26/9	10:00-11:45	Data-driven manufacturing processes	EE	MW
40	Tue 30/9	08:00-10:45	Grinding processes	EE	PK
	Wed 1/10	08:00-09:45	Abrasive fine-finishing processes	EE	PK
	Fri 3/10	10:00-11:45	Joining processes	EE	GH
41	Tue 7/10	10:00-11:45	Sheet-metal forming processes 1	EE	GH
	Wed 8/10	08:00-09:45	Sheet-metal forming processes 2	EE	GH
42	Tue 14/10	08:00-11:45	Grinding lab (Group 1-4)	Material-processing lab	PHO
	Wed 15/10	08:00-09:45	Grinding lab (Group 5-6)	Material-processing lab	PHO
	Fri     17/10	10.00-11.45	Grinding lab (Group 7-8)	Material-processing lab	PHO
43	Tue 21/10	10.00-11.45	Course summary	EE	PK

 

• Changes will be announced in Canvas