UWM pushing research and development mobile military metalcasting facility, nanocomposites.

As the domestic metalcasting community seeks new casting opportunities, the Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) is stepping into the spotlight with several projects that could advance the industry.

UWM was first sought out by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for assistance with military part production. TACOM has explored means to rapidly reproduce parts for military vehicles that become damaged in the field and has examined the laser engineered net shape process (LENS), in which a laser melts metal powder and builds parts layer-by-layer. As part of a $500,000 appropriation from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, UWM received $375,000 to improve the LENS process, but also gained TACOM's attention with metalcasting as an alternative method for on-site rapid part reproduction. As a result, UWM has compiled a team of multiple firms, including metalcasters, to investigate the concept of a mobile casting facility at the military's front lines.

The casting operation would have to condense into an 8 x 8 x 20-ft. (2.44 x 2.44 x 6.1-m) enclosure, and UWM is looking at all options for the facility, from plaster molding to lost foam. UWM and TACOM will reproduce the parts with a lightweight material initially. "We (UWM) have been telling the Army we'd like to walk before we ran," said Pradeep Rohatgi, a professor in UWM's College of Engineering and Applied Science. "So we are saying, 'Let's begin with aluminum,' because that opens up the possibility of plaster molding. We are very open, but initially, we want to begin with lower-melting metals before moving up to iron."

The current grant for the TACOM project will last through 2006, when a new grant request will be filed to advance the mobile metalcasting idea. If that funding is approved, UWM and TACOM will evaluate using the mobile facility to create artificial bones and tissues for wounded soldiers. Further, by developing rapid metalcasting operations, Rohatgi noted that all end-users, not just the military, could benefit.

"The idea with other industries is to improve the turnaround time, which will help fight foreign competition," he said.

As part of a project separate from TACOM, UWM also is researching cast metal matrix nanocomposites. The National Science Foundation awarded UWM an $80,000 grant to develop such composites for casting alloys. The casting material has the dispersion of nanosize alumina or silicon carbide particles in aluminum or magnesium matrices. "This will increase the strength and stiffness of the alloy enormously and make castings a better-fit for high-performance applications," Rohatgi said.

According to Rohatgi, the first industries that would benefit from the nanocomposites are automotive and aerospace. The biomedical market also is an option, but additional funding will be needed once the current grant expires next summer.