Senior Design Projects 2016-17

Laboratory Assessment of Automotive Tread Cracking

Team Members
Tori Keerl, Kylie Lettow, Wyatt Hurst, and Peter Seim, Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor
Erik Herbert, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Ford Motor Company

Project Overview
Tire tread surface degradation is a type of failure that occurs between tread surfaces on a tire. This type of cracking is not structurally compromising, but cosmetic issues are displeasing to customers. Currently, there is no accelerated laboratory test method to accurately replicate this failure mode. The team will develop and test a method in order to determine crosslink density with applied load and environmental conditions. The results from this test will determine what tire will degrade quicker and help establish which should be used in order to best serve customers.


Mitigation of Galvanic Corrosion in Aluminum—Copper Busbars

Team Members
Emily Petersen, Catherine Galligan, George Castle, and Jonathan Vajko, Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor
Douglas Swenson, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Yazaki Corporation

Project Overview
Pressure to optimize fuel efficiency has challenged automotive industry suppliers’ ability to transition to lightweight materials. Traditional copper busbars are being replaced with aluminum alloys, with particular attention to conductivity and corrosion resistance. This study serves to build upon prior work in which aluminum was alloyed with tin. Existing literature suggests alloy improvement by the addition of a third element to minimize the difference in electrical potential of pure aluminum and copper, as well as create a corrosion-resistant passivation layer. Metallography, conductivity, mechanical testing, and salt-fog corrosion were performed and the result compared to the sponsor’s current copper alloy.


Corrosion of Modified 6082 Aluminum Alloys for Automotive Applications

Team Members
Philip Bednarczyk, Joshua Cicotte, Janine Erickson, and Violet Thole, Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor
Dan Seguin, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Ford Motor Company

Project Overview
Ford utilizes an extruded aluminum rocker bar as a structural component of their F150 trucks. They have experienced inconsistent quality of the material’s corrosion resistance when sourced from different suppliers. This study investigates the effects of composition and processing parameters of 6082 extruded aluminum on corrosion resistance. Billet homogenization practices, composition, and post-extrusion thermal processes were systematically varied to examine how these factors may influence the microstructure and corrosion resistance in the material.


Machinability of Additively Manufactured Cobalt-Based Superalloy Components

Team Members
Jeffrey Brookins, Ben Gruber, Emily Hunt, and Zach Verran, Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor
Walt Milligan, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
GE Aviation

Project Overview
GE Aviation is using additive manufacturing (AM) processes to produce intricate parts from a cobalt-based superalloy for their next-generation aircraft engines. However, within these components there is a requirement for threaded holes to be machined after AM production. Currently, GE utilizes a time-consuming machining process to create threaded holes within their additively manufactured parts. Our team was tasked with investigating the material properties of the alloy in order to develop a faster, tapping-based machining process. By characterizing the deformation process of the alloy, tooling and process recommendations can be made to GE Aviation.


High Pressure Die Casting Vent Optimization

Team Members
Julia Scruton, Materials Science and Engineering, and Stephen Hanley, Mechanical Engineering

Advisor
Russ Stein, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Mercury Marine—Mercury Castings

Project Overview
High Pressure Die Cast (HPDC) tooling requires venting channels to be incorporated into their design to allow air to escape during the casting process. The channels must also manage the flow of metal to maintain pressure and properly fill the part during solidification. If the venting channel has a low restriction, the metal flows too fast and will exit the vents. If the venting channel is overly restrictive, the trapped air will introduce porosity in the cast part. A process design method will be developed with the understanding of how various venting channel features affect the complete venting design. This will lead to a faster design process of venting channels on future parts.


Maximizing Feeding Efficiency of 3xx Series Aluminum Alloys

Team Members
John CI Smith, Evan Olson, Hao Qin, and Georgia Hurchalla, Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor
Thomas Wood, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Eck Industries

Project Overview
Eck Industries is interested in minimizing the amount of strontium in 3XX series aluminum alloys to reduce production costs. Strontium is added to modify the eutectic silicon phase, which improves both ductility and feeding efficiency. However, high levels of strontium are associated with increased gas porosity and thus inferior mechanical properties. It has been shown that additional grain refiner is another potential way to improve feeding efficiency. Our team has been working to minimize the strontium additions necessary to produce high quality castings by alloying with additional grain refiner.


Process and Capability Improvement of Ductile Iron Casting at Michigan Tech Foundry

Team Members
Nicholas Verhun, Materials Science and Engineering; Matt Gleason and Karl Hamina, Mechanical Engineering

Advisor
Russell Stein, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Project Overview
Casting ductile (nodular) iron, in comparison to other cast irons, requires much more strict variable and process control. Industry leaders use a 24/7 manufacturing process and specialized infrastructure to obtain high control and production. The foundry at Michigan Tech, as a small-scale research foundry, must find a way to obtain similar controls to perform precise casting research. Our team is evaluating the ductile iron casting process and equipment on campus for possible areas of improvement in order to increase consistency, quality, and variable control of ductile iron casting research.


High Temperature Stability of Austempered Ductile Iron

Team Members
Cameron Smith, Erin Neil, and Carson Williams, Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor
Joseph Licavoli, Materials Science and Engineering

Sponsor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Project Overview
Austempered ductile iron (ADI) exhibits improved physical and mechanical properties over ordinary cast ductile iron; these properties include increased hardenability, strength, and ductility. However, at high temperatures the ausferrite microconstituent— the structure primarily responsible for ADI’s desirable properties—transforms into bainite, resulting in less favorable properties. Certain alloying additions, such as molybdenum or nickel, can mitigate this performance loss and stabilize ADI at high temperatures. This project aims to expand upon previous alloying and to explore new options to increase the thermal stability of ADI.