AREA

BARRIERS

Properties

Lack of fundamental knowledge of material properties as a function of chemistry and casting route
- lack of coordinated focus on doing this

Lack of actual operating data for use in simulation and modeling for properties

Designers do not really understand environment of product or properties they need

Lack of property data

Lack of guaranteed minimum properties for designers

Inability to define maximum feature allowed (e.g., defect, morphology, porosity inclusion) and how it influences material properties
- actual characteristic of morphology may not be entered in

Databases of published test results do not include the specifics of what is being tested
- strength-controlling mechanisms
- technology transfer problems

Variation among tests is an international problem
- cannot afford to do all tests required
- engineers do not know enough to determine which tests to specify
- lack of agreement on standard tests

Lack of non-destructive inspection techniques for castings

Current radiography standards do not reveal enough to give casting designers appropriate guarantees for their designs

Development of consistent properties in cast components has been difficult because of wide variation in chemistry requirements, effects of process parameters, and specific casting features

Processing

Lack of methods to cast clean metals (alloy cleanliness is acceptable but then problems occur after melting and pouring)

Inability to control the introduction of deleterious elements (Sb, P, S...) from recycled metals
- no method to control or analyze

Lack of knowledge on process-microstructure-chemistry-property interactions

Lack of clean metals technology (undesired elements or inclusions)

Inability to melt/cast in-situ (like plastics molding)

Lack of techniques for assessing liquid metal composition prior to casting

Lack of convenient tools to measure stress level and die-surface hardness of casting dies

Guidelines and techniques for removing the damaged surface layer produced during electric discharge machining (EDM) are insufficient

Quality

Lack of accurate, fast, reliable, and non-destructive methods to quantify casting defects

Quality problems with every kind of material

New Materials

Lack of low-cost composite materials

Difficulty incorporating new materials into the industry (standards, industry mindset)

Lack of new stronger and lighter weight cast metal alloys hurts the ability of castings to compete

with composite materials for certain structural components

Many new alloys do not appear in any national standard or construction code

Few alternatives to H-13 steel for making dies

Communication/ Institutional

Inability to get production intent for new materials from users

Too much emphasis on cost-containment

Casters do not understand what design engineer needs in terms of testing

Lack of communication with designers
- assessment of designers' needs