Paradigm Shift in Materials Processing - The Intelligent Processing Revolution

During the last several decades, the importance of materials processing in the control of microstructure and materials properties has been recognized and, accordingly, the materials engineering community has dedicated much effort to studying the physics of the process. These endeavors have provided an understanding of the phenomena which are relevant. However, a paradigm shift is taking place in that the physics oriented approach to materials processing is being replaced by a control oriented approach. What is needed today is the ability to control the process and, thus, the trajectory of the controllable variables in a temporal space. Such a knowledge based approach to materials processing which requires understanding, sensors, and controls is the revolution taking place in the materials engineering field. The essence is a process which can learn and develop \u27\u27intelligence\u27\u27 as it progresses. This address will present and discuss the basis and the need for a knowledge based approach to materials processing. Furthermore, specific industrial examples will be given to illustrate implementation of intelligent processing. Finally, the challenges ahead and the impediments we face as a community will also be addressed

Energy Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology: Innovative Semi-Solid Metal (SSM) Processing

Semi-solid metal (SSM) processing has emerged as an attractive method for near-net-shape manufacturing due to the distinct advantages it holds over conventional near-net-shape forming technologies. These advantages include lower cycle time, increased die life, reduced porosity, reduced solidification shrinkage, improved mechanical properties, etc. SSM processing techniques can not only produce the complex dimensional details (e.g. thin-walled sections) associated with conventional high-pressure die castings, but also can produce high integrity castings currently attainable only with squeeze and low-pressure permanent mold casting processes. There are two primary semi-solid processing routes, (a) thixocasting and (b) rheocasting. In the thixocasting route, one starts from a non-dendritic solid precursor material that is specially prepared by a primary aluminum manufacturer, using continuous casting methods. Upon reheating this material into the mushy (a.k.a. "two-phase") zone, a thixotropic slurry is formed, which becomes the feed for the casting operation. In the rheocasting route (a.k.a. "slurry-on-demand" or "SoD"), one starts from the liquid state, and the thixotropic slurry is formed directly from the melt via careful thermal management of the system; the slurry is subsequently fed into the die cavity. Of these two routes, rheocasting is favored in that there is no premium added to the billet cost, and the scrap recycling issues are alleviated. The CRP (Trade Marked) is a process where the molten metal flows through a reactor prior to casting. The role of the reactor is to ensure that copious nucleation takes place and that the nuclei are well distributed throughout the system prior to entering the casting cavity. The CRP (Trade Marked) has been successfully applied in hyper-eutectic Al-Si alloys (i.e., 390 alloy) where two liquids of equal or different compositions and temperatures are mixed in the reactor and creating a SSM slurry. The process has been mostly used for hypo-eutectic Al-Si alloys (i.e., 356, 357, etc.) where a single melt passes through the reactor. In addition, the CRP (Trade Marked) was designed to be flexible for thixocasting or rheocasting applications as well as batch or continuous casting. Variable heat extraction rates can be obtained by controlling either the superheat of the melt, the temperature of the channel system, or the temperature of the reactor. This program had four main objectives all of which were focused on a mechanistic understanding of the process in order to be able to scale it up, to develop it into a robust process,and for SSM processing to be commercially used

Development of Continuous, Direct Feedback Control Systems for Sintering of Metallic Components

N,N.-Ethylenebisstearimide (EBS) is one of the most commonlyused lubricants in the powder metallurgy (PM) industry in the sintering process. During sintering, the lubricated powder compacts are heat-treated to temperatures in excess of 1,200 °C thus fusing adjacent particles and yielding a part with improved mechanical strength. Delubrication commonly is achieved in the first zone of a sintering furnace by heating the part to temperatures in the 500-600 °C temperature range at a fixed rate and under controlled atmospheric conditions; this strategy minimizes defects, carbon contamination, and compact deformation. The de-lubricated part then enters the second zone (commonly in the 1200-1300 °C temperature range) for sintering. The third zone cools the sintered part at a desired rate to obtain the requisite micro-structural properties. Controlled delubrication is imperative towards achieving high quality parts for the following reasons: the elevated thermal gradient at the transition between the first and second zones can cause parts to expand rapidly and develop microscopic fissures (.blistering.); improper gas flows and belt speeds can lead to carbon deposition on the part and at the grain boundaries (sooting); delubrication products deposit throughout the furnace, even in the coolers, which are far removed from the preheating chamber, leading to significant maintenance costs; pollutants emitted in the exhaust stream of furnaces operating inefficiently are increasingly of environmental concern. In practice, lubricant removal is difficult to control, which often leads to reduced yields in PM manufacturing processes. Throughput is another important issue: process control ideally should lead to a delubrication cycle that yields defect-free parts in a minimum of furnace time, thereby increasing productivity and reducing the net energy consumption. Efficient process control requires rapid monitoring of suitable indicators, preferably gasphase products of delubrication. EBS thermolyzes relatively cleanly in a range of furnace atmospheres, but the mechanism governing the pyrolysis of EBS, compacted with iron powder, is not known and needs to be investigated to determine the parameters important for industrial control, as well as the optimal conditions of delubrication. In addition, a thorough understanding of the pre-sintering chemistry will enable the development of a process control sensor