Implementation of Metal Casting Best Practices - EERE - U.S. ...

promoting a product line for the facility. Aluminum Casting Facility-2 casts a large amount of
metal matrix parts and was able to use the results of this research in its marketing efforts. The
objective of the research project was to evaluate mechanical testing and structural
characterization procedures for commercially available particulate metal matrix composites
(PMMCs), in particular for aluminum alloy-silicon carbide particle composites. This study
provided quantitative comparative data generated cooperatively by material suppliers, casting
producers, and casting users, including the U.S. Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP), to
establish industry procedures for mechanical testing and structural characterization. This project
generated a "Metals Handbook" on mechanical properties and examined variations in properties
with different material suppliers, foundries, and testing agencies. Aluminum Casting Facility-2
uses this research to promote the benefits of the composites they cast. The facility views this as a
growing market with growth being dependent upon its ability, and that of other foundries, to
demonstrate the advantages of matrix composite products—an objective this research seeks to
facilitate.
The facility has also benefited from using the research results to troubleshoot or improve its
operations. Facility staff search through abstracts on AFSearch to find solutions to their
production problems or improve the quality of their castings. According to facility managers,
some of the research results have been critical to their operations and to the industry overall. For
example, the Clean Metal Casting (Aluminum) project conducted by Worcester Polytechnic
Institute (WPI) was important in that it led to incorporation of a reduced pressure filter in the
manufacturing process. This project developed a technology for clean metal processing that is
capable of consistently providing a high metal cleanliness level. It was designed to reduce the
incidence of defects that cause scrap and poor yields, thereby reducing re-melting costs.
Aluminum Casting Facility-2 found that Metal Casting R&D research has also provided
environmental solutions and saved the foundry money. The facility currently implements the
results of research on a Non-Incineration Treatment to Reduce Benzene and VOC Emissions
from Green Sand Molding Systems that Pennsylvania State University (PSU) conducted. During
this project, researchers from PSU evaluated the use of advanced oxidation (AO), and AO with
underwater plasma, as green sand "additive." AO can be incoporated into to a foundry's green
sand system wherever water is. In production, before water or black water slurries are added to
the sand, the sand is treated by the AO combined with ultrasound. PSU showed that AO
treatment cleans the clay, allowing it to be more easily activated. AO was shown to activate the
seacoal causing the mold to absorb VOCs. Hazardous pollutants and VOCs are oxidized within
the green sand mold, and the amount of clay and seacoal required in the mold are reduced.
Smoke and odor emitted during cooling and shakeout were reduced significantly.
The Vice President of Sales and Engineering at Aluminum Casting Facility-2 believes that the
research funded by ITP is critical to their operations. They have been able to find remedies to
problems in their operations that save them time, money, and energy. Industry involvement in
these projects ensures that the results will have pragmatic value.
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