Overview of Corporate Technology Center | Collaboration with Academia | Technical papers


Overview of Corporate Technology Center

TII’s pursuit of Engineering Excellence has always been backed by robust R&D initiatives. The trigger for many of these initiatives has been proactive interactions with customers. Over the decades, many new products and processes have evolved from this. Synergising the initiatives across various divisions, three subdivisions namely, Product and Process Engineering, Testing and Research were established with Scientists, Engineers and Technicians.

Corporate technology center works on business driven R&D projects with specific focus in "metal forming", "thermal processing" technologies and the “engineering design” oriented towards products and process simulation and analysis.

The global trend is shifting from product manufacturing and testing of parts for validation, to computerized design, simulation, prototyping and performance testing.

The state-of-the-art computing facilities in the centre enable the organization to do virtual simulation and prototyping of new products. Also these facilities are oriented towards process simulation to facilitate improved process control in manufacturing. The outcome of engineering design analysis is validated through use of experimental techniques. These include strain gauging and fringe pattern analysis.

Virtual prototyping also assists in the design of robust manufacturing processes and in rapid tool development. TII continuously works with reputed Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) companies to bench mark its solutions.

TII is a pioneer today in innovating & engineering products for the future with proven expertise in:

• Modeling – Products & Processes – with stress analysis (FEA)
• Prototyping - Products & Processes
• Testing – Mechanical, Endurance, Corrosion and High Strain Rate testing
• Investigation – Optical (Micro & Macro structure), Scanning electron microscope, Micro hardness and Dye Penetrant test.

Some sample areas of analysis:

Collaboration with Academia

ASPPRC, Colorado School of Mines:
The R&D initiative is further strengthened by TII becoming a member of an International Steel Consortium (Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center, Colorado School of Mines, USA) This consortium is specifically focused on research work pertaining to advanced high strength steels for automotive applications. It has 26 internationally recognized companies in steel, steel processing and automotive Industries as its members. At any point, at least one project suggested by TII is being researched upon. More importantly, TII has access to and contributes towards all other projects taken up by ASPPRC.
Ref: www.mines.edu/research/aspprc/

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M):
The Murugappa Group has a MoU with the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR) at IIT Madras. This MoU facilitates joint initiatives to identify areas of Research work between Murugappa Group companies and the appropriate Departments at IIT M. TII has taken this forward by way of having, on an average, three running projects at any point of time with Departments of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Sciences, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics. The typical duration of a project is about six months. Upto December 2009, TII has completed more than 10 such projects.

TII R&D Engineers register as "external candidates" for Master of Science leading on to Doctorate programs with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, as also the Department of Applied Mechanics of IITM.

TII along with its sister company CUMI is a co-sponsor of “Nano Functional Materials Technology Center" hosted by IITM. Areas of identified research work include development of Nano particle wear coatings, corrosion resistant coatings and energy storage devices.

With the Center for Continuing Education (CCE) at IIT Madras, TII has started a Technology Appreciation Program. The program targets engineers in various functions across TII and aims to provide a refresher on aspects of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Applied Mechanics.

Technical Papers

TII encourages its research engineers to participate in professional seminars and exchange knowledge. TII engineers have published many papers in international conferences; references are given below:

Title	Venue	Date	Abstract
Tribological properties of lubricants with dispersions of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)	ICONSAT 2012 International Conference on Nano Science and Technology, Hyderabad, India	January 20-23, 2012	Abstract
Coining test for evaluation of tool performance	Transaction Indian Institute of Metals	April 2011	Abstract
Analysis of a complex shape chain plate using transmission photoelasticity	International conference on Mechanics and Aerospace engineering, India	March 21-23, 2011	Abstract
Finite element analysis and experimentation of aluminium tube drawing process	India	April 27-29, 2010	Abstract
Fatigue Studies On High Frequency Induction Welded(Hfiw) Steel Tubes – An Insight Into Fatigue Life Enhancement Opportunities	Pipe & Tube Pittsburgh 2010, USA	October 3-5, 2010	Abstract
Finite Element Analysis And Experimentation Of Aluminium Tube Drawing Process	Hyper Works Technology Conference, Bangalore	August 4-6, 2010	Abstract
Inspection of assembly stress in a chain plate and bush assembly, using reflection photo-elasticity	ICEM 2009, the 4th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics, Singapore	November 18-20	Abstract
Residual Stress Assessment in Chain plates due to ball drifting	Enginsoft International Conference, Bergamo, Italy	October 1-2, 2009	Abstract
Heat treating of smaller parts- An insight into Vacuum Carbonitriding process	ASM heat treat 2009, Indianapolis, USA.	September 14-17, 2009	Abstract
Thermal Processing of Welded Steel Tubes – An Opportunity for Designing Light Weight Components	ASM heat treat 2009, Indianapolis, USA.	September 14-17, 2009	Abstract
Finite Element Analysis and Experimentation of External Pin-Tube Drawing Operations	Altair HyperWorks Technology Conference 2009 (HTC09) -India/ASEAN, Pune	September 14-16, 2009	Abstract
Structural Analysis of Electric Bike Frames	Altair HyperWorks Technology Conference 2009 (HTC09) -India/ASEAN, Pune	September 14-16, 2009	Abstract
Studies of tube drawing, tube sinking and tube extrusion process using finite element analysis	International conference - NAFEMS World Congress 2009, Crete, Greece	June 16-19, 2009	Abstract
ERW tubing and its characterization for hydroformability	Pipe dream 2008, India	February 13, 2008	Abstract
Fatigue studies and characterization of induction tempered welded steel tubes	ASM heat treating society conference, Detroit, USA	September 17-19, 2007	Abstract
Development of high strength welded steel tubes for automotive applications	Pipe & Tube Houston 2007 conference, USA	September 9-12, 2007	Abstract
Development of ultra fine grained steel tubes and its application in automotives	3rd international conference on Advanced Structural Steels (ICASS 2006), Korea	August 22-24, 2006.	Abstract
Crash deformation characteristics of high strength steel tubes	Asia steel international conference, Japan	May 2006	Abstract
Metallurgical and Mechanical Properties Characterization of Induction Heat Treated Welded Steel Tubes and its Application in Automotive Industries	Heat Treat show 2006, Mumbai, India	April 13-15, 2006	Abstract
Development of ductile martensitic tubes and its application in automotive parts	1st international conference on super high strength steels, Italy	November 2-4, 2005	Abstract
Mechanical behaviour of dual phase steel tubes and its application in automotive industries	SAE Congress 2005, Detroit, USA	April 11-14, 2005	Abstract
Development of high strength aluminium tubes using high frequency induction welding process	Tube international conference 2005 (Tube India 2005), Hyderabad, India	February 17-20, 2005	Abstract
Dual Phase steel tubes for Automobile Applications, International conference on Advanced high strength sheet steels for automotive applications	Winter park, Colorado, USA	June 6-9, 2004	Abstract
Development of Ferritic Nitro Carburising Process for Motorcycle Components, International Conference on Advances in Surface Treatment	Research & Applications (astra-2003), Hyderabad, India	November 3-6, 2003	Abstract

The outcome of R&D initiatives has culminated in identification of new business opportunities to develop high strength steel tubular and sheet metal parts largely oriented towards the automotive industry.

These competencies developed at this center enable TII to deal with customers globally and helps in integrating our development processes with those of our customers.