Low-Gravity Research Helps Improve Cast-Metal Products

Bruce Strom (left) of Auburn University evaluates an aluminum engine block casting with Don Sirois, an Auburn research associate.

Ford Motor's Casting Plant is using NASA-sponsored computer modeling to improve the casting process for engine blocks.

Research in low gravity has taken an important first step toward making metal products used in homes, automobiles, and aircraft less expensive, safer, and more durable. NASA is collaborating with Auburn University in Auburn, AL, and with private industry to develop the first accurate computer model predictions of molten metals and molding materials used in forming cast-metal parts. The computer information is based on research conducted on the ground and in low-gravity conditions aboard a NASA KC-135 aircraft. Howmet Industries of Whitehall, MI, is using the new computer technology to more precisely design and cast aircraft turbine blades. In a similar project, Ford Motor Company's Casting Plant in Cleveland, OH, is using information from the new computer models to improve the casting process of automobile and light-truck engine blocks. Cast-metal parts are used in 90 percent of all durable goods such as household appliances, lawn mowers, cars, boats, and aircraft. According to the American Foundrymen's Society in Des Plaines, IL, sales of cast parts in the U.S. alone total $25-30 billion a year. "Partnering with NASA offers unique research opportunities to improve methods of production used in the foundry industry to enhance the quality of castings," said the Society's director of research, Dr. Joe Santner. High-temperature metal-alloy parts for the aerospace and auto industries can strengthen aircraft and vehicles, while making them lighter and more efficient. But developing an effective casting process usually takes three or four years. "We started with experiments on the ground," said Dr. Tony Overfelt, director of Auburn's Solidification Design Center. "Then we went aboard a NASA KC-135 aircraft flying an arc pattern in low gravity to refine our research. Our goal is to continue to produce accurate measurements for all the alloys used by the casting industry. This information can be used by American manufacturers to standardize metal-mixing 'recipes' and to compete more effectively in the worldwide market." Dr. Thomas Tom, director of advanced technology for the Howmet Corporation, said that the research already has benefited his company. "The NASA and Auburn University-led research project on turbine-blade castings helped us realize a cost savings and accelerated the development cycle for rocket hardware." Other participants in the casting-research project include Anter Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA; Thermophysical Properties Research Laboratory, West Lafayette, IN; PCC Airfoils, Beachwood, OH; and the American Foundrymen's Society. Auburn University is one of NASA's 10 Commercial Space Centers. These centers serve as a focal point for NASA partnerships with industry and universities, encouraging space-related research opportunities to develop new products and services. NASA's Commercial Space Center program is managed by the Space Product Development Office of the Microgravity Research Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Back to RPD Main Page Back to News Center