AFS Advocated & Coordinated Research


Achieving Lightweight Casting Solutions for Defense Applications (ALCS)


The ALCS Program is the result of a FY10 Congressional Appropriation request made by Congressman Schock (R-Il) and Sen. Burris (D-Il.) on behalf of AFS. $1.6 million was approved and signed into the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) FY10 Appropriations Bill. A Cooperative Agreement (CA) is being created with Benet Labs as a response to a BAA (Broad Agency Announcement) that will be the framework for conducting this program. This effort will be for 4-5 years, with around $1.1-1.2 million available for FY10 new start projects and support activity under this CA and the funding signed into the DoD FY10 bill. An ALCS Advisory Board consisting of 22 members from the metalcasting industry, the DoD prime contractors and also government sector (Army Research Labs, Office of Naval Research. WPAFB, Benet, DLA) participated in a kick-off meeting held in Dec. 09.


A Call for White Papers was issued and 34 proposals were re- ceived by the Jan. 31st


deadline. Almost $7,000,000 is requested


funding for first year of activity. This Advisory Board helped down-select the top 10 and then an executive board consisting of AFS Staff and the Government members chose the 7 proj- ects that will receive funding for FY10. It is hoped that a higher level of funding can be secured for FY11 and key AFS Corpo- rate members and those attending the Government Affairs Con- ference this year will be asked to help seek support from their congressional delegations. An annual review, that will be open to AFS Corporate members, will be held with the first meeting an- ticipated for this fall, so they can see the technology and process innovations that is a result of the funding support. The benefi- ciaries of the ALCS program will first and foremost be the Warf- ighter, the Military and our membership by promoting castings and a strong North American Industrial base. Those wishing to receive information about how they can support this initiative should contact Thomas Prucha, AFS, at tprucha@afsinc.org.


Metalcasting Industry Funded & Monitored Research


American Metalcasting Consortium/U.S. Dept. of Defense/ Defense Logistics Agency Funded Projects


Castings for Improved Readiness (CIR) Program E-357 Aluminum Statistical Properties


The E-357 Aluminum Statistical Properties Project has received fund- ing as part of the CIR program. The E-357 project will produce cast A&B design property allowables for this aluminum alloy for inclusion in the MMPDS (old Mil Spec Handbook 5) to meet FAA requirements. This will allow aerospace design engineers to specify castings without using design safety factors. Various working groups are actively looking at melt practices, test cast- ing gating and filling, heat treatment parameters, testing protocol, and weld repair standards. The initial casting trials were conduct- ed for the 1.5 x 2.5 inch plate cast in both horizontal and vertical gating approaches, also a heat treat study at various participating foundries. These plates have been tested for tensile properties and microstructural evaluation. Work is now continuing to obtain the samples for all test plate thickness sizes and begin the me- chanical testing. Test casting for the thickest section plates have begun, along with tooling and castings for the other two plates. Mechanical testing has begun with target completion by October 2010. The status was reviewed at AFS CastExpo’10 and the AMC Annual Technical Review. For more information, contact Steve Robison, AFS, at stever@afsinc.org.


Casting Standards and Specifications


Accessing state-of-the-market technical, specification and training materials for castings is challenging. AFS is working to provide current and qualified information in network friendly form to users of castings. The effort includes both archival and recent technical information in searchable databases. Specifi- cations and standards are summarized, and the user is guided in their application. Tutorials covering the fundamental design concerns are also presented. The development of web-based online material design property database will greatly enhance the ability for the next generation of component designer to create the lightest weight and most efficient parts quicker and at lower cost. These tools facilitate more effective and effi- cient procurement to both DoD and industry in the support of weapon systems. Along with data from various AFS Research projects, like the recently completed 08-09#01 & 08-09#03 projects for the Development of Fatigue Properties Database for Use with Modern Design Methods, AFS has signed a Mem- orandum of Agreement with USAMP to allow it to publish the USAMP Light Metals Materials Database and include this data on the AFS Casting Alloy Data Search (CADS) website: www. metalcastingvirtuallibrary.com/cads/cads.aspx


For more information, contact Thomas Prucha, AFS, at tpru- cha@afsinc.org or AFS Information Resource Assistant Katie Doherty, katie@afsinc.org, at 847/824-0181, ext. 294.


78 International Journal of Metalcasting/Summer 10


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81