UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA.
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
TOPIC:
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: INTRODUCTION, CHANGES, MERITS &
DEMERITS, INVENTIONS & DEMERITS, INVENTIONS & INNOVATIONS.
AN ASSIGNMENT
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF THE
COURSE MEC 316 (MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY).
By
UMEMBA UGOCHUKWU INNOCENT
2018/249063
LECTURER:
ENGR. NDUDIM OMONIWU
JANUARY, 2022.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution marked a period of development in the latter half of the
18th century that transformed largely rural, agrarian societies in Europe and
America into industrialized, urban ones.
Goods that had once been painstakingly crafted by hand started to be produced
in mass quantities by machines in factories, thanks to the introduction of new
machines and techniques in textiles, iron making and other industries. Fueled by
the game-changing use of steam power, the Industrial Revolution began in Britain
and spread to the rest of the world, including the United States, by the 1830s and
‘40s. Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of
employment, value of output and capital invested. The textile industry was also
the first to use modern production methods.
There are 4 phases in Industrial Revolution namely:
1.
2.
3.
4.
First Industrial Revolution
Second Industrial Revolution
Third Industrial Revolution
Fourth Industrial Revolution.
1) FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1765 : The First Industrial Revolution
began in the 18th century through the use of steam power and mechanisation
of production. What before produced threads on simple spinning wheels, the
mechanised version achieved eight times the volume in the same time. Steam
power was already known. The use of it for industrial purposes was the
greatest breakthrough for increasing human productivity. Instead of weaving
looms powered by muscle, steam-engines could be used for power.
Developments such as the steamship or (some 100 years later) the steam-
powered locomotive brought about further massive changes because humans
and goods could move great distances in fewer hours. In other words, the first
industrial revolution followed the proto-industrialization period. It started at
the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th. The biggest changes
came in the industries in the form of mechanization. Mechanization was why
agriculture started to be replaced by the industry as the backbone of the
societal economy.
At the time, people witnessed massive extraction of coal along with the
significant invention of the steam engine that created a new type of energy
that later on helped speed up the manufacturing of railroads, thus accelerating
the economy.
2) SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1870: Following the first Industrial
Revolution, we see the world go through the second almost a century later. It
started at the end of the 19th century, with massive technological advancements
in industries that helped the emergence of a new source of energy—electricity,
gas, and oil.
This revolution resulted in the creation of the internal combustion engine that
started to reach its full potential. Other important points of the second industrial
revolution were the development of steel demand, chemical synthesis and
methods of communication such as the telegraph and the telephone.
Finally, the inventions of the automobile and the plane at the beginning of the
20th century are the reason why, to this day, the Second Industrial Revolution is
considered the most important one. The Second Industrial Revolution began in
the 19th century as stated earlier through the discovery of electricity and
assembly line production. Henry Ford (1863-1947) took the idea of mass
production from a slaughterhouse in Chicago: The pigs hung from conveyor belts
and each butcher performed only a part of the task of butchering the animal.
Henry Ford carried over these principles into automobile production and
drastically altered it in the process. While before one station assembled an entire
automobile, now the vehicles were produced in partial steps on the conveyor belt
- significantly faster and at lower cost.
3) THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 1969: The Third Industrial Revolution began
in the ’70s in the 20th century through partial automation using memoryprogrammable controls and computers. Since the introduction of these
technologies, we are now able to automate an entire production process without human assistance. Known examples of this are robots that perform
programmed sequences without human intervention. Another century passes,
and we bear witness to the Third Industrial Revolution. In the second half of the
20th century, we see the emergence of yet another source of untapped, at the
time, energy.
The third revolution brought forth the rise of electronics, telecommunications and,
of course, computers. The third industrial revolution opened the doors to space
expeditions, research, and biotechnology through the new technologies.
In the world of the industries, two major inventions, Programmable Logic
Controllers (PLCs) and Robots, helped give rise to an era of high-level automation.
4) FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AKA INDUSTRY 4.0: For many people,
Industry 4.0 is the fourth Industrial Revolution, although a large portion of people
still disagree. If we were to view Industry 4.0 as a revolution, we would have to
admit that it is a revolution happening now. We are experiencing it every day, and
its magnitude is yet unknown.
Industry 4.0 started at the dawn of the third millennium with the one thing
everyone uses every day—the Internet. We can see the transition from the first
industrial revolution rooted in technological phenomena to Industry 4.0 that
develops virtual reality worlds, allowing us to bend the laws of physics.
We are currently implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is
characterised by the application of information and communication technologies
to industry and is also known as "Industry 4.0". It builds on the developments of
the Third Industrial Revolution. Production systems that already have computer
technology are expanded by a network connection and have a digital twin on the
Internet so to speak. These allow communication with other facilities and the
output of information about themselves. This is the next step in production
automation. The networking of all systems leads to "cyber-physical production
systems" and therefore smart factories, in which production systems,
components and people communicate via a network and production is nearly
autonomous.
And it has the power to change the way that people work. Industry 4.0 can pull
individuals into smarter networks, with the potential of more efficient working.
The digitalization of the manufacturing environment allows for more flexible
methods of getting the right information to the right person at the right time. The
increasing use of digital devices inside factories and out in the field means
maintenance professionals can be provided with equipment documentation and
service history in a timelier manner, and at the point of use. Maintenance
professionals want to be solving problems, not wasting time trying to source the
technical information that they need.
In short, Industry 4.0 is a game-changer, across industrial settings. The
digitalization of manufacturing will change the way that goods are made and
distributed, and how products are serviced and refined. On that basis, it can truly
lay claim to represent the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES BY INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The main features involved in the Industrial Revolution were technological,
socioeconomic, and cultural. The technological changes included the following:
a) the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel.
b) the use of new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power, such
as coal, the steam engine, electricity, petroleum, and the internalcombustion engine.
c) the invention of new machines, such as the spinning jenny and the power
loom that permitted increased production with a smaller expenditure of
human energy.
d) a new organization of work known as the factory system, which entailed
increased division of labour and specialization of function.
e) important developments in transportation and communication including
the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, telegraph, and
radio.
f) the increasing application of science to industry.
These technological changes made possible a tremendously increased use of
natural resources and the mass production of manufactured goods.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Due to Industrial Revolution, there have been several merits and demerits of
which some will be listed below.
Some merits of Industrial Revolution are :
1. More accessible and affordable goods.
2. The rapid evolution of labor-saving inventions.
3. The rapid evolution of medicine.
4. Enhanced wealth and quality of life of the average man.
5. The rise of specialist professions.
Some demerits due to Industrial Revolution in the world are :
1. Overcrowding of cites and industrial towns.
2. Pollution and other environmental damages.
3. Poor working conditions.
4. The rise in unhealthy habits etc.
INVENTIONS AND INNOVATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution introduced many new inventions that would
change the world forever. It was a time epitomised by the wide scale
introduction of machinery, the transformation of cities and significant
technological developments in a wide range of areas. Many modern
mechanisms have their origins from this period.
Below are some inventions during the industrial revolution:
I. The spinning jenny
II. Watt steam engine
III. Telegraph communications.
IV. Dynamite
V. Photograph.
VI. The typewriter.
VII. Electric generator etc.
INNOVATIONS: Starting in the mid-18th century, innovations like the
flying shuttle, the water frame and the power loom made weaving cloth
and spinning yarn and thread much easier. Producing cloth became faster
and required less time and far less human labor.
More efficient, mechanized production meant Britain’s new textile
factories could meet the growing demand for cloth both at home and
abroad, where the nation’s many overseas colonies provided a captive
market for its goods. In addition to textiles, the British iron industry also
adopted new innovations.
Chief among the new techniques was the smelting of iron ore with coke
(a material made by heating coal) instead of the traditional charcoal. This
method was both cheaper and produced higher-quality material, enabling
Britain’s iron and steel production to expand in response to demand
created by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) and the later growth of the
railroad industry. In summary: