Army Research Labs
We regularly collaborate with the U.S. Army Research Lab on a variety of issues relevant to the future of Army operations.
One project focuses on developing a steel grade to replace armor plating on vehicles like the Abrams tank. These vehicles are becoming too heavy for certain strategic crossings due to added technologies. Our goal is to create lighter replacement armor to address this issue.
For another project, we are leveraging our 3D sand printer to assess the feasibility of establishing a small foundry in a tractor trailer. This would enable the remelting of scrapped parts from decommissioned vehicles. The melted material could then be used to create replacement parts for lightly damaged vehicles, expediting their return to service when compared to waiting for shipped parts.
PSMRC
The Robert V. Wolf Foundry is the primary testing facility for the Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center (PSMRC). Through this industry consortium, our research explores various topics, such as the impact of boron in steels, segregation effects on hot tearing, mold-flux interactions, bainite evolution during hot rolling, descaling, and calcium treatments for clean steel.
Fiber Optics
Our fiber optics research is supported by grants from various organizations. Projects in this area explore mold air gap development during solidification, thermal properties across the mold thickness, early prediction of refractory lining degradation, and strain measurements in continuous casting