Initiatives of Precision Engineering at the Beginning of a Millennium

Faced with ever-increasing market demands, manufacturing industry is forced to seek innovation and technological breakthrough. This state-of-the-art text aims to integrate broad aspects of precision and production engineering to cope with rapid changes in market needs and technological developments as we enter the 21st century. It addresses basic theory, extensive research in advanced topics, industrial applications, and relevant surveys in related fields. Major subjects covered by this book include: advanced manufacturing systems; ultra-precision machining and micro machining; nanotechnology for fabrication and measurement; chemo-mechanical processes; rapid prototyping technology; new materials and advanced processes; computer-aided production engineering; manufacturing process control planning. This volume contains the proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Precision Engineering (ICPE), which was held in July 2001, in Yokohama, Japan. ICPE is a well-established conference in the field of production and precision engineering, covering a wide range of topics for future-oriented manufacturing systems and processes.It is organized by the Japan Society for Precision Engineering (JSPE). This book can be used as a reference for graduate and undergraduate courses in precision and production engineering, and also for researchers and industrial engineers to capture current trends in this field.