Next ACRC meeting: Dec 11-12, 2024 UCI, Irvine, CA.
Welcome to the Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC)
ACRC is one of the largest industry-university consortia (~ 40 members) in North America dedicated to collaborative research in metal processing and manufacturing. Our focus is metal casting and digital manufacturing. We bring fundamental understanding to existing processes, develop new methods, new alloys, and address management-technology interface issues with our industrial partners. ACRC serves the global metal processing and foundry industry as its educational and research home.
News Feed
- New Grant Funding: DOE Awards 1.6 Million
- Trane Technologies Joins ACRC
- Pratt & Whitney Launches UCI Center of Excellence
- ACRC and QuesTek Launch Partnership at UCI
- ACRC Visit Audubon Metals
- ACRC and Additive Plus Working Together
- Diran Apelian is 2024 ASM Award Program Recipient
- Calvin Belcher Successfully Defends Dissertation
- Brandon Fields Successfully Defends Dissertation
- ACRC Student Researchers Win Big at WFO
PRATT & WHITNEY LAUNCHES UCI CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
We are delighted to report that Pratt & Whitney has established a Center of Excellence for Solidification Science at UCI. Diran Apelian will be its inaugural Director, and the team of Carl Soderhjelm, Dan Mumm, Julián Rimoli (of Mechanical engineering) and Lorenzo Valdevit will be the core faculty working on these projects. The Center of Excellence will be a hub with ties to OSU, North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T.
LITE MAGNESIUM JOINS ACRC
We are pleased to share that Lite Magnesium Products, Inc. has joined ACRC as its newest member. It’s mission is to lead the aerospace and defense industries with precision manufacturing, innovative engineering, and a commitment to quality. Its core competencies include:
- Advanced Manufacturing: Precision casting and machining of complex aluminum and magnesium components using state-of-the-art technology.
- Innovative Engineering: Developing customized solutions through cutting-edge research and extensive technical expertise.
- Quality Assurance: Ensuring the highest standards through rigorous testing, inspection, and industry certifications.
- Customer Focus: Providing tailored solutions and dedicated support to meet client needs from design to production.
- Strategic Collaboration: Enhancing capabilities through partnerships with industry leaders, suppliers, and research institutions.
- Sustainability: Committing to sustainable practices and responsible operations to minimize environmental impact and support community and workforce development.
Through these competencies, Lite Magnesium delivers excellence, innovation, and reliability, empowering its clients to achieve their mission-critical goals.
TRANE TECHNOLOGIES JOINS ACRC
We are pleased to share that Trane Technologies has joined ACRC and will be at our December member meeting. Trane is an American-Irish domiciled company focused on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The company traces its corporate history back more than 150 years and was created after a series of mergers and spin-offs. It prides itself on leading the industry in sustainability practices that are already having a positive impact.
To learn more about our newest member, please click here.
HPDC Aluminum Alloy Development for High Conductivity Applications
Al-Si cast alloys account for 80~90% of the world’s castings and HPDC specifically accounts for more than ~60% of this subset due to cost competitiveness for mass production. However, the thermal and electrical conductivity properties of Al-Si alloys are only ~50% of pure Al in the as-cast condition, which can only be increased to ~70% with resource-consuming heat treatments. Improving conductivity properties with decent strength can lead to higher performance and/or lifespan for applications such as electric vehicle powertrains, electric motor rotors, internal combustion engines, heat exchangers, etc. Alternative Al eutectic systems such as the Al-Fe, Al-Fe-Ni, Al-Ni, and Al-Ce systems offer pathways to achieve ↑ conductivity & ↑ strength for castable Al alloys. Current research focuses on establishing the significance of intertwined, hierarchical microstructural parameters that govern conductivity, strength, and castability, to provide a foundation for alloy development strategies.
ACRC Board Chair 2024-2025
Jason Sebastian, QuesTek Innovations LLC
“The ACRC is one of the most longstanding and successful industry/university research partnerships in the world, and it brings together researchers and industry in exciting and productive ways. Funding is leveraged to provide members precompetitive access to cutting-edge research & development project results, and access to advanced experimental facilities at UC-Irvine and OSU. Members can select and steer the R&D projects through their active participation in project steering committees and at the ACRC semi-annual in-person meetings. The consortium provides incomparable networking opportunities with top-notch university researchers at UC-Irvine and OSU, and with decision-making executives and managers at high-tech, materials-centric industry member companies. As ACRC Board Chairman, I look forward to helping the ACRC to continue and expand upon its successes in the years to come.”