| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M43234/01 |
| Title: |
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF VOLUME PRODUCED CAST ALUMINIUM COMPONENTS (INTCAST) |
| Principal Investigator: |
Spittle, Dr J |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Materials Engineering |
| Organisation: |
Swansea University |
| Scheme: |
LINK |
| Starts: |
01 September 1999 |
Ends: |
30 November 2002 |
Value (£): |
135,346
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
Transport Systems and Vehicles |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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In order to reduce fuel consumption car manufacturers are seeking to decrease vehicle weight by making greater use of cast aluminium components for safety critical applications such as suspension components. However, castings are naturally prone to contain porosity because of the volume change that occurs on freezing. This is particularly true if internal hot spots arise i.e. if volumes of metal in the casting become isolated from feed liquid during solidification. It is critical that those parts of a casting that will be subjected to the highest stresses in service do not coincide with regions likely to be susceptible to excessive porosity. The purpose of this project is to develop a methodology for optimising the initial design of cast components taking into account the service environment and the manufacture. The methodology will be applied to the redesign manufacture and fatigue testing of an aluminium alloy suspension arm. Failure of prototypes to the initial design led to rejection of casting as the process route.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.swan.ac.uk |