Appendix IB. Course Syllabi

IE 479x Metal Casting Processes

Description:
Principles and concepts of the metal casting process. Topics to include: casting design, solidification modeling, dimensional and shape capabilities of the casting process, foundry melting practice and foundry alloys. Prerequisites: IE 248

Books:

1. Castings, Campbell (1991).
2. Supplemental readings and other materials will be provided.

Objectives:
Students will have a better understanding of the capabilities of the metal casting process and where it can be capitalized upon for a component application. The fundamentals of the process will be included to develop this understanding. A particular emphasis will be placed on process control issues, especially dimensional variability. Issues involving downstream operations will also be included such as fixturing, inspection and machinability.

Topics:

1. Introduction
2. sand casting
3. permanent mold/ die casting
4. lost foam casting
5. solidification modeling
6. gating systems/ risering
7. dimensional capabilities
8. melting practices
9. foundry alloys

Class/Laboratory Schedule:
The class meets 2 times a week for 50 minutes. There are 2 in class exams, plus the final. The laboratory meets once each week for 110 minutes. For most of the experiments, the students design and conduct the experiment and operate the equipment with minimal direction and oversight.

Contribution of Course to Meeting Professional Component:
The strong laboratory component of this class supports several professional components including conducting experiments, analysis of results, written communication and working as a team. The course also includes modern engineering tools and information and techniques towards engineering problem solving.

Relationship of Course to Program Objectives:
This course supports the objective of being able to integrate the engineering and business processes of an enterprise, particularly by understanding the impact of design and manufacturing on product cost.

How Assessed:
In addition to the end of the semester evaluations conducted by the University, the students in APM coordinate course evaluations about mid semester. I also conduct ‘5 minute’ evaluations when I feel their may be problems or am just curious of the student’s perception of the class.

Actions to Improve the Course:
Based on the feedback from the students, and knowledge I gain from working with industry, the course is constantly updated. At the most basic level, I am constantly gaining more examples, many of them actual parts, that I share with the class as appropriate.

Prepared by: Frank Peters 5/16/00