Northwestern U. Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Metal Deformation Processes (iuFOCUS)

金属变形工艺是在汽车、医疗和电子设备、石油和天然气设备以及航空航天工业等许多工业部门中普遍使用的制造技术。这一过程约占美国国内生产总值的7%。金属变形技术的进步可以解决关键的国家需求，如国防、能源独立和效率、国土安全和医疗保健。该项目的目标是召开一次规划会议，建立一个关于金属变形过程的工业/大学合作研究中心（I/UCRC），这将为工业提供内在价值。该中心的目标是为行业提供具有竞争力的基础知识，以改善产品性能，提高生产力，促进劳动力发展和经济增长。该中心将为学术界、工业界和国家实验室研究人员提供一个合作论坛，以开展金属变形技术的基础、竞争前的科学和工程研究。为了创建一个跨越多个工业部门的强大且可持续的I/UCRC中心，该项目的学术合作伙伴新罕布什尔大学（UNH）、西北大学和德克萨斯农工大学（TAMU）将共同努力，提供：A)创新的金属变形技术，如柔性无模成形、超声辅助成形、电辅助成形以及工件和工具表面的几何变形，用于摩擦控制；b)通过新型过程传感器和先进的控制算法进行闭环过程控制；c)成形过程建模和材料表征。该中心将有三个技术重点领域（每所大学负责一个领域）：建模和材料表征（UNH），先进金属变形过程和传感（西北大学），以及产品/过程优化和标准化（TAMU）。每家机构还将根据过去的合作和区域利益，重点关注特定行业：联合国大学、航空航天和电子设备；西北，汽车和医疗设备；TAMU，石油和天然气工业。机构和行业成员之间的合作可以有效和高效地解决工业研发需求。在计划会议上，预计总共有60人参加。中心的项目将通过系统地将工业需求映射到I/UCRC场址的能力来确定。更具体地说，西北大学带来了他们在先进成形工艺和传感方面的卓越能力，以及他们独特的金属成形研究设施的支持。

Metal deformation processes are ubiquitous manufacturing techniques used in many industrial sectors such as automotive, medical and electronic devices, oil and gas equipment, and aerospace industries. The processes are involved in approximately 7% of the US Gross Domestic Product. Advancement in metal deformation technologies can address key national needs such as defense, energy independence and efficiency, homeland security, and health care. The objective of the project is to conduct a planning meeting to establish an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) on metal deformation processes, which will provide intrinsic value to industry. The goal of the Center is to deliver pre-competitive, fundamental knowledge to industry for improved product performance, enhanced productivity, workforce development and economic growth. The Center will provide a forum for collaborations among academic, industrial, and national laboratory researchers to perform fundamental, pre-competitive science and engineering research of metal deformation technologies. To create a robust and sustainable I/UCRC Center across several industrial sectors, the academic partners of this project, University of New Hampshire (UNH), Northwestern University, and Texas A&M University (TAMU), will work collaboratively to provide: a) innovative metal deformation technologies, e.g. flexible dieless forming, ultrasonic-assisted forming, electrically-assisted forming, and geometric texturing of workpiece and tooling surfaces for friction control, b) closed-loop process control through novel in-process sensors and advanced control algorithms, and c) process modeling and material characterization for forming. The Center will have three technical thrust areas (with each university Site leading one of the areas): modeling and material characterization (UNH), advanced metal deformation processes and sensing (Northwestern), and product/process optimization and standardization (TAMU). Each institution will also focus on specific industries based on past collaborations and regional interests: UNH, aerospace and electronic devices; Northwestern, automotive and medical devices; and TAMU, oil and gas industry. The collaboration among the institutions and industrial members can effectively and efficiently address the industrial research and development needs. At the planning meeting, a total of 60 participants is expected. The Center projects will be determined by systematic mapping of the industrial needs to the capabilities of the I/UCRC Sites. More specifically, Northwestern University brings their excellent capabilities in advanced forming processes and sensing and the support of their unique facilities for metal forming research.