Light Duty Technology Cost Analysis, Power - US Environmental ...

considered. For example, forged components typically have a smoother appearance to the
grain whereas cast components have a rougher finish, especially in the areas where
machining is absent. Castings also usually display evidence of casting flash.
The component application environment will also help determine material choice. There
are, for example, several conventional ductile cast iron applications found in base
gasoline engines that are moving to Ductile High Silicon - Molybdenum or Ductile Ni-
Resist cast irons in downsized turbocharged engines. This is due to high temperature,
thermal cycling, and corrosion resistance demands associated with elevated exhaust gas
temperatures in turbocharged engines. Therefore, understanding the part application and
use environment can greatly assist in more accurate material determinations.
C.4.2.3 Pricing Sources and Considerations
The pricing data housed in the database is derived from various sources of publicly
available data from which historical trend data can be derived. The objective is to find
historical pricing data over as many years as possible to obtain the most accurate trend
response. Ferrous and non-ferrous alloy pricing involves internet searches of several
sources, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), MEPS (previously Management
Engineering & Production Services), Metalprices, estainlesssteel and Longbow.
Resin pricing is also obtained from sources such as Plastics News, Plastics Technology
Online, Rubber and Plastics News, and IDES (Integrated Design Engineering Systems).
Several other sources are used in this research as outlined in the database.
Though material prices are often published for standard materials, prices for specialized
material formulations and/or those having a nonstandard geometric configuration (e.g.,
length, width, thickness, cross-section), are not typically available. Where pricing is not
available for a given material with a known composition, two (2) approaches are used:
industry consultation and composition analysis.
Industry consultation mainly takes the form of discussions with subject matter experts
familiar with the material selection and pricing used in the products under evaluation to
acquiring formal quotes from raw material suppliers. For example, in the case of the
NiMH battery, much of the material pricing was acquired from supplier quotes at the
capacity planning volumes stated in the analysis.
In those cases where published pricing data was unavailable and raw material supplier
quotes could not be acquired, a composition analysis was used. This was achieved by
building prices based on element composition and applying a processing factor (i.e.,
market price/material composition cost) derived from a material within the same material
family. The calculated price was compared to other materials in the same family as a
means to ensure the calculated material price was directionally correct.
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