BIG Science, BIG Castings (cont.)


“The nice part was having the machining capabilities,” Holman said. “To be able to keep it all in house, it helped us offer more. And on the customer’s end, it helped with scheduling and delivery.” One half of the cyclotron was delivered to MSU in October 2012, with the other half following two months later.


Joining Two Hemispheres Funded by a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2011, the Plasma Dynamo Experiment at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, involved the construction of a 10-ft. hollow sphere that would be used to conduct experiments on super-heated plasma. The dynamo spon- Ǽ ŘsŸȖǣĶy ONjs Ǽsǣ Ŏ ¶ŘsǼÞO fisĶ_ǣʰ ĶĶŸɠÞض astrophysicists to learn about similar phe- nomena in planets and stars. Much like MSU’s search that ended in its own backyard, UW-Madison ended up placing a purchase order with Portage Casting & Mold Inc. (PCM), just 40 miles away. The university initially explored welded fabri- cation, but PCM, whose foundry pattern division specializes in aluminum and offers on site


The interior of the dynamo was machined on PCM’s five-axis


milling machine after being cast as two separate hemispheres.


8 MELTING POINT


machining capabilities, convinced project manager John Wallace that it could deliver superior components.


“We chose casting after realizing [our] requirements could be met and recognizing advantages of casting such as cost, shape, flsɮÞEÞĶÞǼyʰ ŘŸ ɠsĶ_ǣ Ř_ O ǣǼ˚ÞŘ OŸŸĶÞض ĶÞŘsǣʰˇ said Wallace, an engineer in the university’s plasma physics department. “To us, it was like having a very large 3-D printer.” Working with university engineers, PCM received approval on a two-stage casting process that produced the sphere in separate, nearly identical halves. “Two castings were required to complete the hemisphere assembly,” said Dennis Griep, PCM president. “Each casting was processed separately approximately 45 days apart in mild, dry conditions, and PCM duplicated


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