Joyworks

Joyworks traces its roots to my passion for metal castings and sharing that evocation with young engineers.  Located in rural Ann Arbor Township, Michigan, the original 1,000 sq. ft. facility, commissioned in 2005 is equipped with a 65kw Inductotherm power unit and two self-contained induction tipping furnaces the studio is capable of 200lb heats of steel/iron and 70lb heats of aluminum.  With a 750 sq. ft. addition commissioned in 2013, Joyworks LLC is now a stand-alone design and prototype studio with 3-D printing and FEA design and analysis.  Justin Lefevre, Principal Engineer, manages Joyworks and brings his materials roots and his mechanical engineering education to the technical/creative effort.

As this goes to press, Joyworks is developing complex gray iron castings with printed cores for an automotive Tier 1 supplier.  We're helping to validate the manufacturability and functionality of a new design of ADI railcar component.  ADI has a role in down-the-hole drilling, and work currently underway at Joyworks will validate the use of ADI in some surprising applications.  The Ductile Iron Society has sub-contracted with Joyworks to produce specimens for DIS research. We're also working with a significant player in the extractive metallurgy segment on techniques to improve the quality and manufacturability of technical alloys.

Education is still a core function of Joyworks.  We have helped Applied Process by hosting AP University metal casting labs at Joyworks.  This fall, once again, we'll welcome students from the University of Michigan to Joyworks to make lost-foam aluminum castings.

We're expanding our technical capabilities and sharpening our execution to provide creative solutions; taking concept to castings in weeks.  Let us know how we can help you grow your business by helping you to develope better, faster, cheaper designs and the prototypes to test the concepts.    

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.