Cutting Costs On The Front End
Manufacturers lose thousands of dollars each year scrapping flawed metal castings. Researchers in the UAB Metal Casting Laboratory are studying gating, molding and defect formation in aluminum castings using x-ray and digital imaging systems. Their study will eventually help reduce scrap and production costs and improve efficiencies in metal castings. "The system we are using allows metal to be poured and the flow, fill, and solidification events recorded. The results are then analyzed in slow motion," says UAB materials engineering professor Charles Bates, Ph.D. "Gas bubbles, entrained air, core gas, shrinkage and hot tears can often be seen as they form. The data will be used to improve our understanding of gating, molding and defect formation, and to develop computer models that will calculate flow, fill, and shrinkage patterns."
Contact Jennifer Park, Media Relations, 205-934-3888 or [email protected].
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