Motorcycle Frame
Craft Pattern & Mold Inc.
Maple Plain, MN

CPM earned top honors in the annual competition for its Polaris motorcycle frame casting. The casting replaces an assembly of more than 20 parts and serves as the main structural frame component for the Polaris Victory Core concept motorcycle.

Craft Pattern & Mold's component was cast in A356 aluminum with T-6 heat treatment via no-bake sand, weighs 51 lb, and measures 12 x 18.75 x 45.5 in. Structurally, the cast frame is more rigid and precise in shape and form than the original fabricated steel frame and offers reduced dimensional variation.

Refueling Manifold
Alum-Alloy Co. Inc.
Ontario, CA

The refueling manifold connects to multiple fuel tanks for in-flight refueling and is integrated into a modification kit that is installed into U.S. Air Force aircraft. The manifold mounts to the airframe with four bolts, and all the fuel connections are made with quick-disconnect flexible hoses. Alum-Alloy received a commendation from the U.S. Air Force for the design of the refueling manifold and installation kit.

ClassicSeries CVR Dental Pump
Piad Precision Casting Corp.
Greensburg, PA

The dental suction pump's casting design features cast-to-size holes, diameters, and internal ports and passages. Some internal passages and overflow ports could not be formed through the extraction of steel cores, so the casting supplier used two expendable sand cores. The casting design also incorporated three mounting feet into the housing, which reduced the net casting weight by 7% and overall cost by 14% compared to purchasing the housing and mounting base plate separately.

Agriculture Hitch
Bremen Castings Inc.
Bremen, IN

The hitch coupling for an agriculture implement is a replacement that consolidates five different hitches into one. Each original hitch was made of multiple steel pieces that were bent and welded together. The consolidation of hitches into a single casting reduced the number of parts and allowed commonality of products for the customer, as well as the consumer. The new casting provided the customer an annual savings of $20,000.

Aerospace Valve
Aristo Cast Inc.
Almont, MI

The 770-g valve was made for the aerospace industry. To fully understand the complex core geometry of the 3 x 4 x 2-in. part, the casting supplier produced cores using fused deposition modeling. These models helped the casting engineers spot trouble areas that would require special attention. A low-pressure semi-pneumatic device was used to fill the core passageways and eliminate air pockets that could cause core breakage or failure. The finished castings were checked via x-ray for core breakage.

Snubber Arm Casting
P&H Mining Equipment, Milwaukee, WI
and Spokane Steel Foundry, Spokane Valley, WA

The Snubber Arm part was converted from steel. It slows the 25,000-lb. dipper door on an above-ground mining shovel from opening and closing too fast. A full dipper load on the door is 227,000 lb. Co-designed between the OEM P&H Mining and Spokane Steel Foundry, the cast part resulted in a 40% reduction in machining time, a 15% reduction in weight, and a per-unit savings of 46% ($81,178 annually).

Wind Power Tail Fin
LA Aluminum Casting Co.
Hayden Lake, ID

This 3.7-lb part is used to aid in wind power generation. The customer for the tail fin part of a 1-MW wind generator was experiencing a 50% fall-out rate. Converting it to a permanent mold casting reduced the rate to less than 1%, saving the customer $470,000 annually. The sand-blasted permanent mold version for use on land exhibited a denser surface structure than the previous version, providing a better surface finish after sand blasting.

U.S. Military Target Location Device
Precise Cast Prototypes & Engineering
Commerce City, CO

This magnesium part helps acquire and locate targets for the defense industry. Using magnesium castings shaved months off development, reduced overall cost, and provided superior electromagnetic interference reduction, which is significant for electronic enclosures. The casting supplier had to overcome thick sections surrounded by thin areas. Some cross-sectional thicknesses are as little as 0.04 in.