Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Take a real plug to pieces and think about what things the designer might have specified.
Polymer
+ : routine
? : difficult
X : unsuitable
Polymer
Shaping
Machining
Joining
Wood
ABS
UF
(thermoplast
(thermoset)
ic)
Pine
Polymer
extrusion
Compression
moulding
Injection
moulding
Blow
moulding
Milling
Grinding
Drilling
Cutting
Fasteners
Solder /
braze
Welding
Adhesives
Resistivity - Cost
The materials with the
lowest values of resistivity
are aluminium, brass,
copper and gold. All these
are commonly used as
conductors in practice,
although clearly gold is a
bit too expensive for use
in a plug! Also, although
aluminium is a good
conductor, it is not
suitable for a removal
plug because it develops
an insulating oxide layer.
So, how to choose
between copper and
brass? The strengthtoughness chart helps to
answer this...
Strength - Toughness
We can see from this chart
that brass has higher
strength and hence better
wear resistance than copper.
So, brass is used for the pins
because it is the best
compromise between the
three competing needs for
low cost, good electrical
resistivity and good wear
resistance.
Brass is an alloy of copper; it
is common for alloys to have
higher strength than the
pure metal. The higher
strengths in the copper
bubble only come from 'cold
working' which would be
expensive, so brass is even
more attractive than it first
appears.
+ : routine
? : difficult
X : unsuitable
Metal Shaping
Machining
Joining
Brass
Sand casting
Die casting
Powder metal
forming
Forging
Sheet forming
Rolling
Metal extrusion
Milling
Grinding
Drilling
Cutting
Fasteners
Solder / braze
Welding
Adhesives
Cost Data
Forging
Extrusion
One-off cost
50
600
Hourly cost
65/hour
50/hr
Production
rate
1000
parts/hour
500
metres/hour
COSTS
Running costs
Startup costs
(= hourly cost
(=one-off cost
production
batch size)
rate)
Batch size
50 100 parts
= 50p per part
100
Forging:
65/hour 100
parts/hour =
50 100000
6.5p per part
100,000
parts = 0.05p
per part
100
Extrusion:
100,000
50/hour
50000
parts/hour =
0.1p per part
600 100
parts = 6 per
part
600 100000
parts = 0.6p per
part
Process
Forging:
1p
6.5p
Extrusion:
1p
0.1p
50
100 =
50p
600
100 =
600p
Total cost
57.5p
601.1p
Final remarks
There is at least one more important factor
which affects all manufacturers equally standards. If you look on the back of any
plug in the UK you should see BS1363 or
1363A - this means it conforms to a
particular British Standard. Standards are
important in protecting consumers by
ensuring products meet a minimum safety
level. BS1363 sets levels for plug
performance including strength, toughness
and fire-resistance - all of which may a limit
a designer in their choice of materials and
processes.
http://www-materials.eng.cam.ac.uk/mpsite/plug/default.html