SBIR Phase I: Forced Cooling of Semi-Permanent Molds for Fine Grain Steel Castings

该小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将证明使用新型半永久主动强制冷却模具铸造制造工艺制造细晶粒超高强度钢（UHSS）铸件的可行性。随着国防、非公路、汽车和建筑行业对低成本高性能铸造部件的轻量化需求，需要新的制造方法来生产钢和铸铁部件。这一创新将利用主动冷却方法，有效地阻止模具内铸件的晶粒生长，从而大大提高机械性能、工艺产量和生产率。与传统砂型铸造相比，该工艺预计可将每个铸件的制造成本降低高达40%，并将生产率（铸件产量）提高高达150%。这项颠覆性技术的目标是钢铁和其他黑色金属铸造行业，该行业每年在国内拥有超过1000万吨的钢铸件，收入达到200亿美元。该行业高度分散，小型企业经常合并。 拟议的技术将在铸造厂实施，显著提高铸件质量、运营效率和整体铸件产量。该项目的智力价值包括开发具有主动冷却的半永久性铸型铸造系统，确定主动冷却对所生产铸件性能的影响，以及在铸造水平上使用创新的技术经济研究，以确定大规模实施的成本/效益。该技术的创新之处在于将主动冷却应用于型内铸件和半永久型结构。第一阶段的主要目标是开发一种概念验证铸造设备，并生产一系列具有不同强制冷却速率的钢板，从中确定模具中的冷却速率对铸件的晶粒尺寸、伸长率、强度和坚固性的影响。预计该制造工艺将以铸铁制造成本产生航空航天级性能。第一阶段的完成将使铸造工艺扩大到复杂的零件。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of creating fine grain ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) castings using a novel semi-permanent active forced cooling mold casting manufacturing process. With the demand for low-cost high performance cast components for light-weighting applications for the defense, off-highway, automotive and construction industries, new manufacturing methods are needed for the production of steel and cast iron components. This innovation will utilize active cooling methods, effectively arresting the grain growth of the casting within the mold, and resulting in greatly improved mechanical properties, process yield and productivity. Compared to traditional sand casting, this process is predicted to reduce manufacturing cost per casting by up to 40%, and to increase productivity (casting throughput) by up to 150%. This disruptive technology targets the steel and other ferrous metal casting industry, which domestically accounts for over 10 million tons of steel castings annually, with revenues reaching $20 billion. This industry is highly fragmented, with frequent consolidation of smaller players. The proposed technology will be implemented at the foundry level, providing significant improvement in casting quality, operational efficiency, and overall casting yield. The intellectual merit of this project includes the development of a semi-permanent mold casting system with active cooling, the determination of the effects of the active cooling on the performance of the produced castings, and a techno-economic study of the innovation in use at the foundry level to determine to costs/benefits of implementation at scale. The innovation of this technology lies in the application of active cooling to the casting within the mold, and in the semi-permanent mold construction. The main objective of this Phase I is to develop a proof-of-concept casting apparatus and to produce a series of steel plates with varying forced cooling rates from which to determine the effect of cooling rate in the mold on grain size, elongation, strength of the casting and soundness of the casting. It is anticipated that this manufacturing process will produce aerospace grade properties at cast iron manufacturing cost. Completion of this Phase I will enable scale up of the casting process to complex parts.