Ohio State establishes new centre to advance metal forming
RESEARCH NEWS
The Ohio State University ( USA ) received a US $ 1.25 million grant in September from the National Science Foundation ( NSF ) to lead a new Industry-University Cooperative Research Centre ( IUCRC ), dedicated to advancing metalforming technologies and educating a future industrial metal-forming workforce . Member companies and organisations are expected to contribute an additional US $ 2.25 million or more to the centre over the next five years .
Led by Integrated Systems Engineering ( ISE ) Professor Farhang Pourboghrat , the Centre for Industrial Metal Forming ( CIMF ) will perform modern , fundamental research in metal-forming science and engineering to drive innovation and competitiveness in the U . S . advanced manufacturing sector .
CIMF will bring together experts from academia , industry partners , national labs and U . S . government agencies to advance metal forming through novel modelling and experimental techniques , process innovations , sensor technologies , artificial intelligence and the Industrial Internet of Things .
“ Transportation , defence , aerospace , household and biomedical industries consume
Above from left : Centre for Industrial Metal Forming co-director , Ali Nassiri , co-investigator Taejoon Park and director Farhang Pourboghrat inspect a piece of formed sheet metal . and process large quantities of metals in forgings , extrusions and sheet metal components . Passenger cars alone consume approximately 16 million tons of steel and aluminium alloy sheets for body structures and closures , with a fairly high scrap rate due to current limitations in metal-forming technologies ,” said ISE Research Assistant Professor , Ali Nassiri , who will serve as a co-director of the centre . “ Addressing current needs and challenges in metal forming will lead to considerable product performance , manufacturing and societal benefits .”
Ohio State will partner with Oakland University , led by Professor Sergey Golovashchenko , and the University of New Hampshire , led by Professor Brad Kinsey , to conduct research and prepare professionals for the metal forming industry through academic programmes , industrial training and workshops . The centre will educate and train the next generation of metal forming professionals through multi-university industrial research projects , mentoring , internships and other educational and outreach activities . Ohio State faculty will develop a selfpaced online course on the fundamentals of metal forming for undergraduate and graduate students . Internships will be offered at the university ’ s Centre for Design and Manufacturing Excellence ( CDME ) and Simulation Innovation and Modelling Centre ( SIMCenter ), where students can work on CIMF-related projects . Graduate students will have the opportunity to conduct research at partner locations .
The first round of NSF funding for CIMF will last for five years , with the ability to renew for another US $ 1.25 million for an additional five years . Other CIMF co-investigators include Ohio State ISE Research Associate Professor Taejoon Park and University of New Hampshire Assistant Professor Jinjin Ha . n
https
:// engineering . osu . edu
The ‘ Waste2Race ’ sewage-powered car
Engineers and students at WMG ( Warwick Manufacturing Group ) at The University of Warwick ( UK ) are working on a hydrogenpowered car fuelled by sewage , in a project entitled ‘ Waste2Race ’. The hydrogen is a byproduct of water treatment technology , from Wastewater Fuels , being trialled at Severn Trent Water and , with it , the team at the university is hoping to break records for hydrogen-fuelled cars .
The Waste2Race Le Mans Prototype class 3 car ( LMP3 ) has been built by Ginetta cars in Leeds from a selection of spare and unused parts that were due for scrap . Some parts have been adapted with sustainable materials including a wing mirror from beetroot waste ( cellucomp ); a steering wheel courtesy of the National Composites Centre ( NCC ) made from 100 % biosource materials and a car battery , recovered from a crashed vehicle by ENRG MotorSport .
“ The project comes as manufacturers such as Alpine and Toyota are exploring hydrogen as a fuel for racing cars of the future . BMW also recently announced plans for its first hydrogen car on sale from 2028 ,” said WMG .
With the chassis now built , engineers and students have been working to develop the sustainable powertrain . The supercharged V6 engine from Revolution Cars will be converted to run on hydrogen , with bespoke injectors from Clean Air Power , before being fitted to the car . On the front wheels there are hub motors from Protean which include recycled magnets , and enable energy recovered from braking to be stored in the battery .
Students from the University , working sideby-side with engineers , have had hands-on experience throughout the summer holiday , and gained key skills needed for future careers in motorsports and manufacturing .
The team aims to complete the project in 2025 and use it to showcase a wide range of sustainable concepts that are being developed across the university and in industry . Researchers at WMG will also use Life Cycle Assessment analysis to try to ensure that the car is “ at the forefront of the sustainability race as well as breaking speed records .”
The ‘ Waste2Race ’ project is funded by the UK ’ s Research Innovation Fund from UKRI via Research England . n
https
:// warwick . ac . uk / fac / sci / wmg
ISMR November 2024 | ismr . net | 19