Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The choice of a manufacturing process for a component depends on factors like material, required properties (strength, hardness), complexity of shape, production volume, and cost. This question requires matching common components with their typical manufacturing methods.
Step 2: Detailed Matching:
- (P) Crank shaft: A crankshaft is a critical engine component that must withstand high cyclic stresses and fatigue. It requires high strength, toughness, and good dimensional accuracy. Forging is the ideal process as it imparts a favorable grain structure (grain flow) that follows the component's contour, significantly enhancing its strength and fatigue resistance. P matches with 2.
- (Q) Machine bed: A machine bed is the large, heavy base of a machine tool (like a lathe or milling machine). Its primary requirements are high stiffness, vibration damping capacity, and dimensional stability. It is typically a large and complex shape. Casting, particularly with gray cast iron (which has excellent damping properties), is the most suitable and economical method for producing such large and intricate components. Q matches with 3.
- (R) Automobile brake pad: A brake pad is a friction material. Modern brake pads are composites made from a complex mixture of materials, including abrasives, fillers, binders, and reinforcing fibers. Powder metallurgy is the process used to manufacture these components. It involves blending the various powders, pressing them into the desired shape (a process called compacting), and then heating them (sintering) to bond the particles together. R matches with 4.
- (S) Beverage can: An aluminum beverage can is a thin-walled, seamless container produced in very high volumes. The primary manufacturing process is a series of sheet metal forming operations, most notably deep drawing and wall ironing (DWI), which start from a flat circular blank and form it into the final can shape. S matches with 1.
Step 3: Compiling the Matches:
The correct pairings are:
- P \(⇒\) 2 (Forging)
- Q \(⇒\) 3 (Casting)
- R \(⇒\) 4 (Powder metallurgy)
- S \(⇒\) 1 (Sheet metal forming)
This corresponds to the sequence P-2, Q-3, R-4, S-1.
Step 4: Why This is Correct:
This sequence matches option (A). Each pairing represents the most common and appropriate manufacturing process for the given component based on its function and material requirements.