Joyworks

The activities at Joyworks are neither routine or well defined.  That’s what makes it such a neat place to consider and try new things.  Okay, I admit it, we can work on whatever we want to.  Of late, we’ve been producing sample Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) conversion parts that, if successful, will replace multi-piece steel components with one-piece ADI castings.  We have been casting hardenability step blocks for Applied Process Inc. and we’ve even been analyzing a unique, proprietary design for a bow hunting tree stand.  Based on feedback from our sphere of influence we anticipate that design activities will become an ever increasing portion of the activities at Joyworks.

It has been our observation that, in general, mechanical and design engineers are experts at designing functional shapes but know little about the materials that they specify.  Meanwhile, the materials engineers can give you chapter and verse on the materials but are woefully lacking in design knowledge.  Add to that the fact that most graduating engineers in both those fields have little experience at actually making complex components…..experiencing the difficulties and failures that add up to manufacturing wisdom.

So, it is with some consternation that we read in several trade publications that Ford is looking to reduce the mass of the F-150 pickup truck by 750 lbs. (about 15%), for the sole purpose of increasing the fuel efficiency of America’s most popular vehicle.  On the surface this seems to be a noble goal.  The weight reduction is expected to come largely from substituting aluminum for iron and steel.  For example they have cited the cargo box, tailgate, doors, control arms and steering knuckles as targets for conversion to aluminum.  They expect that the conversion will increase the cost of the vehicle by $1,500 and increase the fuel mileage by 8%.

At Joyworks we are not (specifically) automotive engineers, but we are engineers with both design and materials experience.  A quick calculation based on the aforementioned outcome provides some food for thought.  If you make the assumptions of driving 10,000 miles per year and gasoline selling for $3.50/gallon, the slimmed-down F-150 will return your initial investment in 10 years.  (5 years if you drive twice as much).  Not so hot in the return-on-investment category.

How can that be?  An 8% increase in fuel efficiency is HUGE.  Well…..so is the amount of energy that goes into the production of the aluminum.  That $1,500 premium that F-150 buyers pay will be, in effect, $1,500 worth of energy purchased up front.  Converting bauxite ore to high-performance aluminum sheet, forgings or castings uses three times the amount of energy as that required to convert iron ore to either steel or iron sheet, forgings or castings.  So, in life-cycle energy the savings are minimal…..but Ford will be able to meet the Federal Government’s mpg regulations whether they make energy sense or not.

Moving away from energy, how will Ford make up for the stiffness deficit in aluminum vs. steel or ductile iron? The resonant frequency of the vehicle is bound to be negatively affected.  What about the noise issue?  Aluminum rings like a bell…….what will be the effect on the F-150’s NVH performance.  And what about vehicle modifications in service.  I drive a pickup truck and I can tell you that these trucks are going to get modified.  What happens the first time somebody attaches a fifth-wheel through an aluminum box F-150 using steel screws?  You’ll be able to SEE the aluminum corrode away.  Can you imagine what the aluminum tailgate on a working F-150 will look like after being used on the job site for several years?  It will look like a piece of aluminum foil that has been crumpled up and then hastily flattened out.

There is no free lunch.  Most materials considered to be “light-weight” use massive amounts of energy in their production and have issues with stiffness, noise damping, corrosion resistance, recyclability and manufacturability.  But many designers are ignorant of the larger picture when these material selections are made.  At Joyworks we’ll do our part to make that picture clearer.  Meanwhile, you might want to ask some questions the next time you’re chatting with a Ford design engineer.  The stuff we use to make stuff really does matter. 

At Joyworks we assuage the Edisonian inside all of us.  Joyworks is an environment for trying new stuff…..even stuff with low odds of success.  In the process of doing this we develop new knowledge and, every once in a while, a new, innovative technique for doing something that a Newtonian approach would have overlooked.  No amount of technical training or calculation can equate to the knowledge (and experience) gained by spilling some iron on one’s shoes or watching a full-pattern rise, phoenix-like up from the sand pressed by evolved gases. 

Our long-time Joyworks assistant, Demetri Golematis, encountered, and learned from, all of that….and more.  Demetri recently graduated with his BS in  Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and has left us to become a design engineer at Nissan.  We’re pretty sure that Nissans, in some small way, will be better having Demetri’s experiences and skills woven into them.  We wish Demetri the best in his new career.

Meanwhile we welcome David Ameche (a UoM Aerospace Engineering student) as a new Joyworks assistant.  With Ryan Breneman (a UoM Material Science and Engineering PhD student) and help and guidance of Meghan Oaks and Dr. Kathy Hayrynen of Applied Process, we are moving forward on lots of interesting projects.  I just saw a new hot-wire device for cutting foams out there.  David made the device from a lamp cord, a piece of welding wire and a rheostat……just the kind of stuff that we do.  We’re planning to cast aluminum shouldering devices for the UoM gun club and prep for our fall MSE 350 metal casting lab extravaganza with 50 to 60 UoM students.

Joyworks will also host the Foundry Education Foundation board of directors later this summer.  The FEF crew is interested to see what that crazy Keough is doing out on Joy Road.

In the recent past we’ve been pouring big alloyed ductile iron step blocks to run through the various quenches at the Applied Process plants and those of their licensees to compare and further quantify the quench severities and account for any differences in the proprietary computer models.

Coming up, a bronze work for Jules Henry Keough, a cast Joyworks logo hanging sign, some golf club back weights for a local Ann Arbor enthusiast, more work on Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) down-the-hole components for the oil and gas industry and, perhaps, some work on high-carbon cast steel.  The fun never stops at Joyworks.  The yellow poppies by the studio are in full bloom…..we wish you were here.     

Lately it seems that ideas for Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) and Carbidic Austempered Ductile Iron (CADI^sm) are popping up all over.  Forgings are expensive and you cannot beat holes in ‘em.  Castings are lower in cost and many more features can be easily cast in.  Add to that the fact that tooling for castings is far less expensive than forging tooling, and everybody now seems to have a way to make stuff in ADI or CADI^sm.

ADI conversions are simple.  All you need is good ductile iron and a properly facilitated and designed Austemper heat treatment and you’ve got a component that will run with the best steel forgings, castings and weldments…..at a competitive cost.  CADI^sm is a bit of a challenge because you have to get used to put thermally stable carbides in the casting, something that we have worked for DECADES to eliminate.  But when you get it right it will run with 27% Chrome white iron and will not spall or chip like those fully carbidic irons.

Lately the crew at Joyworks has been collaborating with the technical sales folks from Applied Process (www.appliedprocess.com) to develop prototype parts for AP’s customers to demonstrate the cost effectiveness and durability of ADI and CADI^sm components.  It’s awfully hard for a customer to resist considering the conversion when you can put parts right on his or her desk.  Ground engaging parts are of particular interest to many new customers as people are always looking for something that is better and/or less expensive than the competition.  In addition, weight reduction on every front is in our future.

In the US, the Obama administration has recently backed a 56.2 miles/gallon Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) for 2025.  Motor Trend Magazine (www.motortrend.com) recently quoted a study done by an organization right here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, the Center for Automotive Research (www.cargroup.org).  They calculated the effect of achieving the standard as an average price increase (in 2008 dollars) of $6,714 per vehicle. A little quick math tells me that if I now have a car that gets 20mpg and drive it 20,000 miles per year, and I replace it with a 56mpg vehicle I’ll have a 2.8 year payback against that $6,714: not great….but not horrible.  However, if it’s a second vehicle and it’s only driven 10,000 miles per year the payback is a steep 5.6 years.  I’m pretty certain that the folks in Washington don’t stay up late at night worrying about such things.

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) further broke down the numbers to envision what a fleet of 56mpg vehicles might look like.  First, there would be a significant mass reduction by using low density materials like magnesium, aluminum, carbon/carbon composites and plastics.  Additionally, industry would turn to thin-walled/thin-sectioned versions of high-strength, materials like steel, ductile iron, ADI and compacted graphite iron.  Even at a CAFE of 56mpg, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles are only forecasted to make up about 20% of the market.  Light-weight, diesel propelled vehicles will make up about 8% of the market.  Light-weight Hybrid Electric vehicles with tricked-out gasoline engines will make up about 36% of that 2025 fleet.  Finally, good ‘ol gasoline powered vehicles with significant mass reductions and tricks like stop/start technology (where the engine turns off at stoplights) will also make up about 36% of the market.

Now some would argue that the plug-ins and battery electric cars are actually “coal powered” since two thirds of our electricity comes (and will most likely continue to come) from coal and that CO₂ is just coming out of a different pipe…..but I’m just the engineer, not a politician.  That aside, it’s going to be a wild ride for producers supplying the car industry in the next 15 years as they will be expected to come up with every trick in the book to make this happen.  Joyworks (www.joyworksstudio.com) and Applied Process Inc. (www.appliedprocess.com) will be happy to be on the forefront of the development tougher, stronger, lighter, quieter and more wear resistant components for these future vehicles. It sounds like fun to me……although I’ll miss the soothing burble and low rpm acceleration of a high-output V-8.

There’s a lot of stuff going on at Joyworks.  Austempered Ductile Iron developmental projects abound…….And BOY has it been hot.  So hot that our 65kw Inductotherm melter went on strike.  She apparently refuses to work above 90F…..unless we water cool her lines.  That solved, the elves at Joyworks played through and got the job done.  That’s good, because we have customers keen to get ADI and CADI prototypes.  

The pace of development work will continue to increase as productivity and efficiency increases are required in virtually every industry.  Agricultural productivity must increase by over 30% by 2050.  The US EPA is mulling a 56 miles per gallon fleet average by 2025.  According to Automotive News that will require that a full-sized pickup truck will necessarily shed about 1,000lbs…..while maintaining its current size and performance capabilities.  How can it be done?  Automotive News postulates the use of turbo-charged six-cylinder engines and more high-strength steel and aluminum.  Hmmmm, might they be ignorant of the properties of Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI)?  ADI has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum and 2.5 times the stiffness.  ADI is a proven material for applications from suspension arms and knuckles, crankshafts, camshafts and differential cases, to clutch components and gears.  At Joyworks we believe that one test is worth 1,000 expert opinions….so look for exciting future results…..born in the little studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Joyworks continues to be a key collaborator with Applied Process in their mission to “Grow the Pie” for Austempered products.  Soon the Sandman will (finally) cometh at Joyworks.  Our Tinker Omega continuous mixer is scheduled to land soon.  This will vastly improve our capabilities to make chemically bonded sand molds.  Demetri and Ryan will be glad to exit the business of team mixing of 25-lb batches and the Joyworks drill press will breathe a sigh of relief.

At the Joyworks Studio, our close collaboration with Applied Process means that we are also working to “grow the pie” for Austempering.  With its induction melting capabilities, Joyworks is well suited to produce high quality ductile iron in heats up to 200 lbs.  One of AP’s sales engineers, Henry Frear, has grasped upon that capability and is actively pursuing a steel-forging-to-ADI conversion.  The customer makes a certain small hammer from a steel forging.  He’s faced with a high price and the prospect of replacing the expensive forging tooling.  Henry convinced them to give ADI a try.  A successful conversion would reduce the per part cost and greatly reduce the tooling cost….while improving the performance of the part.  The customer agreed and Henry went into action.  He designed and machined a pattern, made molds and brought them to Joyworks.  Assisted by his fellow AP sales engineer, Justin Lefevre and Joyworks assistants Demetri Golematis and Ryan Breneman, they have produced parts in both ADI and CADI for testing by the customer.  We are confident that a successful conversion will result and the Austempering pie will grow.  At Joyworks, creativity is the essence of what we do.  This project is good old fashioned American ingenuity…..a new, better idea, conceived, designed and made in the USA.  Joyworks is glad to be a part of it.