Innovation Centre
Innovation Centre
Red Deer College is pleased to announce the creation of a new Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing as part of its major growth initiative, Building Communities Through Learning.
Demand for highly skilled employees
Central Alberta is being challenged to keep up with the region’s booming economic development. Our vibrant and growing manufacturing sector needs highly skilled employees who are also versed in the advanced technology and the business elements of manufacturing. For companies to grow, they need the capability to develop new ways of manufacturing, new ways of doing business. This requires people who are not only technicians but innovators.
The new Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing will train technical specialists in the design and development of prototypes, products and processes. This unique facility will create an environment that allows industry, faculty and students to mentor and inspire each other.
The Centre is designed for use by Industry, Faculty and Students. Our objective is to provide our industry partners with state of the art equipment and services to assist them with their applied research initiatives. At the same time our faculty and students are anxious to work with our industry partners to help with their applied research and training initiatives.
If you have an Idea for a new product or you are company who wants to develop a new product or process or solve an existing problem or bottleneck in your operations, don’t hesitate to contact us. RDC can bring the collective knowledge of the Alberta College System to help assist you.
For more information about working with RDC on your applied research and training initiatives please contact:
Eric Kokko
Director
t: 403.343.4070| e: eric.kokko@rdc.ab.ca
or
Mark Burggren
Central Alberta Rural Manufacturers Association
(403) 342-3589
mark.burggren@rdc.ab.ca
Current Equipment List
1. Rapid Prototyping (Stratasys FDM 400)
Engineered to provide accurate, repeatable, and configurable high-performance parts in-house, this workhorse uses a variety of production-grade thermoplastics. Customization allows you to select material packages and build-envelope sizes so you only pay for the capabilities you need. The parts are tough enough for prototyping and production use.
Stratasys FDM systems use a wide variety of production thermoplastics, including ABS, PC (polycarbonates), PPSF (polyphenylsulfone) and blends to manufacture Real PartsTM. Because Real Parts from a Stratasys FDM system are composed of production thermoplastics, your prototypes will more closely predict end-product performance. These materials allow you to manufacture real parts that are tough enough for functional testing, installation, and most importantly — end use.
2. 3D Coordinate Measuring Machine (Mitutoyo and Faro Machines)
A coordinate measuring machine' (CMM) is a device for measuring the physical geometrical characteristics of an object. This machine may be manually controlled by an operator or it may be computer controlled. Measurements are defined by a probe attached to the third moving axis of this machine. This probe touches the part of interest and allows collecting discrete points on the object's surface. The typical CMM is composed of three axes, an X, Y and Z. These axes are orthogonal to each other in a typical three dimensional coordinate system. Each axis has a very accurate scale system that indicates the location of that axis. All three axes are displayed on a digital readout. The machine can be used to Reverse Engineer parts, create a 3D drawing and then produce them on a Rapid Prototyping Unit or CNC Mill/Lathe.
3. Hardness Testings (Mitutoyo ASTM Standards)
ASTM Standards
4. CHARPY V-notch Weld Testing
The Charpy impact test, also known as the Charpy v-notch test, is a standardized high strain-rate test which determines the amount of energy absorbed by a material during fracture. This absorbed energy is a measure of a given material's toughness and acts as a tool to study temperature-dependent brittle-ductile transition. It is widely applied in industry, since it is easy to prepare and conduct and results can be obtained quickly and cheaply. But a major disadvantage is that all results are only comparative.
5. Stress, Strain Compressive Strength Measurement (Instron & United)
Tensile strength óUTS, or SU is the stress at which a material breaks or permanently deforms. Tensile strength is an intensive property and, consequently, does not depend on the size of the test specimen. However, it is dependent on the preparation of the specimen and the temperature of the test environment and material.
Tensile strength, along with elastic modulus and corrosion resistance, is an important parameter of engineering materials that are used in structures and mechanical devices. It is specified for materials such as alloys, composite materials, ceramics, plastics and wood.
An example tensile strength system is found here .
A compression test determines behavior of materials under crushing loads. The specimen is compressed and deformation at various loads is recorded. Compressive stress and strain are calculated and plotted as a stress-strain diagram which is used to determine elastic limit, proportional limit, yield point, yield strength and, for some materials, compressive strength.
6. HAAS Automated CNC Machining (5 advanced machines)
VF2
The Haas VF-2 vertical machining center has 30" x 16" x 20" (762 x 406 x 508 mm) with HAAS automation (programming)
SL30
Haas Automation’s complete line of CNC lathes is designed to meet the needs of modern machine shops. The SL30 offers a wide range of capacities. The SL-30, with a max turning capacity of 17" x 34" and a 10" chuck, has a bar capacity of up to 3.0".
VF3
The Haas VF-3 vertical machining center has 40" x 20" x 25" (1016 x 508 x 635 mm) XYZ travels and is built utilizing all American-made cast-iron components.
APL20
Automatically picks up parts from an external tray and load them into the lathe for unattended turning, or flip parts automatically for double-ended machining. Available as a dedicated system with the Haas SL-20 lathe, the Haas Automatic Parts Loader (APL) is programmed directly from the lathe’s control for ease of use.
The new Haas APL has built-in flexibility for gripping and controlling various part configurations. Not only will the APL load raw pieces and remove completed parts, it can be used to turn pieces over for second operations or wait at the lathe for long shaft pieces to be quickly machined before bringing them back to the table.
EC400
The high-productivity features on the new Haas EC-400 HMC include 20" x 20" x 20" XYZ work cube, dual 400 mm pallets, 1-degree indexing, an 80-gallon coolant system and triple-auger chip removal. The standard 8,000-rpm, 40-taper spindle is powered by the Haas 20-hp vector dual drive system; an optional 30-hp, 12 K spindle is also available.
Both spindles feature an inline, direct-drive system that couples the motor directly to the spindle, for less vibration, less heat and less noise than belt- or gear-driven systems – which means superior surface finishes, excellent thermal stability and quieter operation.
Click here for more information from HAAS
Robotic Welding Cell (ABB Robotics)
ABB FlexArc® robotic welding cells is a complete robot systems. If your organization wants to determine if it is ready for Robot welding come and visit us for a demonstration. Training on our system and trial production runs are also available so that you can see just how your assembly can be welded in a robotic system.
The FlexArc® cell is designed to bring competitive advantages to those of you serving markets where just-in-time production, exceptional product quality, process reliability and manufacturing flexibility, are crucial.
Click here for more information from ABB