Superior Weapons Thru Casting (SWC) Program
Three new AFS projects will start under the Superior Weapon Systems Thru Castings (SWC) Program. This program has funding secured for both FY09 and FY10, and is under a Co- operative Agreement (CA) obtained by Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) for American Metalcasting Consortium (AMC) with Benet Labs. The AFS projects include High Strength & High Toughness Cast Aluminum Alloy at UAB, Developing an Improved Combination of Strength and Permeability for In- vestment Shells used with Foam Patterns at Missouri Univer- sity of Science and Technology (MS&T) and Visual Inspection of Casting (joint sponsorship with Steel Founders’ Society of America (SFSA) and North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) at Iowa State University (ISU) and Schorn Associ- ates. Updates on these projects and others under this AMC slate of projects was given during the AMC Annual Technol- ogy Review held June 23-24, 2010 at Sheraton Gateway Suites, Chicago-O’Hare, IL. Those interested about information on the program or attending should contact Thornton C. White, ATI, Senior Program Manager, at
whitet@aticorp.org or visit the ATI website to Register Online at:
http://amc.aticorp.org/ techreview.html
High Strength, High Toughness, Cast Aluminum Alloy
There is an ongoing need to reduce the weight and cost of mili- tary weapon systems. High strength, high toughness, cast alu- minum alloys could meet this need in applications such as armor and structural components. The objective of the proposed re- search is to optimize the chemistry of an existing high strength aluminum alloy (BAC 100TM
Developing an Improved Combination of Strength and Permeability for Investment Shells used with Foam Patterns
The importance of this project is that manufacturing pro- cesses to produce larger complex shapes with tight dimen- sional tolerances is needed. This is especially true for lower volume and higher strength cast materials, like steel, which is important in the area of large caliber weapons systems development and production. Investment casting with foam patterns is currently a preferred technology with Benet for producing limited run large scale (over 300 lbs) parts of complex shape. This technology will allow the production of lighter weight parts. This project will improve thin sec- tion fill and dimensional reproducibility for steel castings such as muzzle brake and breech components (loading trays and raven breech nozzle for example). The potential for this technology to address this need has been demonstrated, but optimization is required to take full advantage of the poten- tial of the technology to improve quality and reduce pro- duction lead times. The program will combine development activity and tests conducted at MS&T with industrial trials on defense relevant components. It is anticipated that future work could focus on additional components, more complex assemblies and other cast metals and alloys. The Principal Investigator for this project is Prof. Von Richards, Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Visual Inspection of Cast Products ), which may be suitable for mortar
base applications, and develop a mechanical property database for designers. This alloy was developed for military applications as a potential substitute for wrought aluminum alloy 2519, but needs to be optimized for specific applications. After optimiza- tion, the statistical variation in mechanical properties (strength, toughness) needs to be determined for design purposes. The goal of this material development program is to produce an aluminum casting alloy with properties that meet MIL-DTL- 46192C, Aluminum Alloy Armor, Rolled Plate, Weldable. Dur- ing the development, both high strength and high toughness variants will be developed for specific military applications. The Principal Investigators for this project are Dr. Alan P. Druschitz and John Griffin, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
This project will provide a comprehensive investigation on ways to improve visual inspection tasks for the metalcast- ing industry. The major areas of investigation will include: Impact of human factors on the inspection process, Envi- ronmental Variables, Training, Surface Anomaly Mapping and Case Studies with Technology Transfer. This project is jointly sponsored by SFSA, AFS and NADCA. The Principal Investigators are Frank Peters, Iowa State University, and Ted Schorn, Schorn Associates.
International Journal of Metalcasting/Summer 10
79
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