Developing an Improved Combination of Strength and Permeability for Investment Shells used with Foam Patterns
The importance of this project is that manufacturing processes to produce larger complex shapes with tight dimensional toler- ances 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 technol- ogy will allow the production of lighter weight parts. This proj- ect will improve thin section fill and dimensional reproducibility for steel castings such as muzzle brake and breech components (loading trays and raven breech nozzle for example). The po- tential for this technology to address this need has been dem- onstrated, but optimization is required to take full advantage of the potential of the technology to improve quality and reduce
production 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 assem- blies and other cast metals and alloys. The Principal Investiga- tor for this project is Prof. Von Richards, Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Visual Inspection of Cast Products
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 In- vestigators are Frank Peters, Iowa State University, and Ted Schorn, Schorn Associates.
Website Development
AFS Information Services Library
AFS is working together to develop a new website dedicated to providing casting users, design engineers and purchasers rel- evant information on casting capabilities and properties. The website will make casting information easily accessible and retrievable from a single site by providing design guidelines, material properties for all metals, and metalcasting process rec- ommendations. To try this site please visit:
www.metalcasting-
virtuallibrary.com/afscaps/caps.aspx.
Technical Resource
Technical department staff and technical committees provide quarterly columns for MODERN CASTING and Metalcasting Design & Purchasing (formerly Engineered Casting Solutions). A new quarterly column is being developed that will document the best practices for various procedures and tests used in the metalcasting industry. Answers & Advice provides practical answers and recom- mendations to technical difficulties and questions asked by practic- ing foundry personnel to help the efficiency in their operations. AFS technical staff associates continue to support AFS members and casting users through telephone and email requests for techni- cal help, casting problems and metalcasting information.
The AFS library online database serves the needs of the met- alcasting industry for current and historic metalcasting infor- mation. A new project was initiated this year to electronically archive the full AFS Transactions series using non-destructive scanning technologies. The full project will be completed over several years and is co-funded through AMC research.
The updated and advanced AFS library website with almost 40,000 papers and articles about metalcasting are available for purchase. Located at
www.afslibrary.com, the website houses the world’s largest collection of metalcasting refer- ence material.
The new online AFS library is powered by a GoogleTM search
engine, providing state-of-the-art functionality to help users find articles quickly. A real time on-line help desk feature can assist users in refining their search or locating a specific article. The site then provides the option to purchase the AFS copy- righted papers and articles by automatic download or email.
For more information on the new library website, contact the AFS Information Resource Assistant, Katie Doherty, at 847/824-0181, ext. 294.
International Journal of Metalcasting/Fall 10
83
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 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85