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 funding as part of the CIR program. The E-357 project will produce cast A&B design property allowables for this alumi- num alloy for inclusion in the MMPDS (old Mil Spec Hand- book 5) to meet FAA requirements. This will allow aerospace design engineers to specify castings without using design safe- ty factors. Various working groups are actively looking at melt practices, test casting gating and filling, heat treatment param- eters, testing protocol, and weld repair standards. The initial casting trials were conducted 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 mechanical test- ing. Test casting for the thickest section plates have begun, along with tooling for the other two plates. Mechanical testing will start in January 2010. The status will be reviewed at AFS CastExpo’10. For more information, contact Steve Robison, American Foundry Society, at
stever@afsinc.org.
Casting Standards and Specifications
Accessing state-of-the-market technical, specification and training materials for castings is challenging. The American Foundry Society is working to provide current and qualified information in network friendly form to users of castings. The effort includes both archival and recent technical infor- mation in searchable databases. Specifications 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 de- sign property database will greatly enhance the ability for the next generation of component designer to create the light- est weight and most efficient parts quicker and at lower cost. These tools facilitate more effective and efficient 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 Memorandum 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 (CAPS) website:
www.metal-
castingvirtuallibrary.com/cads/cads.aspx.
For more information, contact Tom Prucha, American Found- ry Society, at
tprucha@afsinc.org or AFS Information Resource Assistant Katie Doherty (
katie@afsinc.org) at 847/824-0181 or 800/537-4237, ext. 294.
Casting For Improved
Defense Readiness (CIDR) Program Machinability of Ferrous Castings
The Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly University Missouri-Rolla) project will document and devel- op tools that help both designers and foundries predict how the casting process affects machinability of ferrous parts. Casting issues such as core placement, molding process re- quirements, and adjacent section size effects will be evaluat- ed. The benefits to DLA include enhanced design practices for machined features on castings that will improve casting quality and lead times of final part delivery. The project final report is now being prepared and presentation will be made at CastExpo’10. Anyone wishing information should con- tact Prof. Von Richards, Missouri University of Science and Technology, at
vonlr@mst.edu.
Refractory Coating Thickness
The Western Michigan University project focuses on improving the techniques employed by the foundry industry for measuring refractory coating thickness. Internal surface defects are consis- tently attributed to large variations in coating thickness and lim- itations of the application methods on coated cores. The AFS Sand Division estimates that approximately $60 million is spent on labor, energy, and scrap to control metal penetration defects in castings. This situation is most serious for short production runs where adequate quality control is critical for on-time de- livery of quality components. The project final report is now being prepared and presentation will be made at CastExpo’10. Anyone wanting information should contact Prof. Sam Ramrat- tan, Western Michigan University, at
sam.ramrattan@wmich.edu.
80
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 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 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85