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January 2001 Welcome to The CTMA Connector, a monthly newsletter designed to provide news and ideas about the Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program. The CTMA program is a joint Department of Defense/National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (DoD/NCMS) effort promoting collaborative technology development between industry and the DoD maintenance and repair facilities. This newsletter will give you selected highlights of ongoing projects, serve as a forum for promoting new project ideas, and share other news of interest to the program. Our goal is to stimulate your participation and solicit your input. Feel free to submit items for the newsletter as well as any suggestions to make it more useful. Ongoing Project News Near Dry Machining of Aluminum NCMS project manager Jack McCabe has been invited to present the results of this project at the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Annual Meeting, May 20 - 25, in Orlando. The title of his presentation is Performance Experiences with Near-Dry Machining of Aluminum. More information about the conference can be found at the website, http://www.stle.org New Project Ideas The following idea is being considered for development into a collaborative project. A complete list of emerging ideas is included at the end of this newsletter. Thermal Spray Replacement of Chromium and Cadmium Coatings in Military Equipment NCMS is soliciting depot participation and component application opportunities on an emerging CTMA program that addresses the cost-effective repair and replacement of chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd) coatings in military equipment. Presently, these coatings are deposited by liquid immersion bath methods (e.g., electroplating) that leave behind residual toxic wastes. Sulzer-Metco will use their commercially based thermal spray technology in combination with alternative materials that are non-toxic and non-hazardous to form coatings with improved performance properties. High-velocity, oxygen-fuel (HVOF) spraying (the “Diamond Jet” system), plasma spray, and dual-wire electric arc spray are proposed for technology demonstrations. Components that have been treated in recent successful applications have included aircraft landing gear and a U.S. Navy ship steering ram for which a Naval specification was written (MIL-STD-1687A). Aerospace Materials Specification (AMS) 2447 also describes 10 HVOF coatings. Components of interest to military depots as well as landing gears will be evaluated in this 24-month effort. Other large structures well suited for this project include frame members; enclosures such as gearboxes; engine components such as pistons, rings, and valves; racks; steel containers; base plates; and any existing components that cannot be galvanized with the traditional hot-dip galvanizing process. Because the thermal spray process can be done at the maintenance (depot level) site, it can reduce any downtime associated with refurbishment, which might otherwise require shipment to an external facility.Sulzer-Metco will design, build, install, and demonstrate at least one Diamond Jet HVOF system so that replacement of toxic Cr and Cd coatings can begin in earnest. Working with NCMS and depot staff, they will also demonstrate the cost benefits of the technology, and will provide the training and system support required to ensure smooth transition of the technology to the military. For more information on this project, contact Dr. Manish Mehta, 734-995-4938. Calendar of Events NCMS 2001 Conference To
Focus on Game Changers – Business survival in the future depends not on luck, speculating about the economic climate, nor theorizing about technological advances. It may depend, however, on how we go about addressing and answering a key question that leading futurist Glen Heimstra asks: “What future do we prefer?” In the fast-paced global environment, manufacturers will have to respond to the need for new products and technologies, such as hybrid automobiles and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Thus, the industry seeks an answer to the question: “What future do we need to build?” The NCMS 2001 Conference, being held May 6-8 at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort in Hilton Head, South Carolina, offers a “think tank” forum at which knowledgeable speakers and conference participants can interact to discuss the game changers that will come into play in building our preferred future. The purpose of this conference is to challenge our images of the future in an energized, exciting, and stimulating environment. Setting the stage for this environment will be keynote speaker Glen Heimstra, whose work as a futurist is widely known and respected through his broad experience as an international speaker and consultant on future planning for enterprises. Mr. Heimstra offers insight into surprising developments shaping the 21st Century, and then goes beyond that to the deeper challenge of understanding our new world and creating our preferred future. Mr. Heimstra’s presentation on Monday morning, May 7, will kick off the conference with a look at “The Shape of Things to Come.” Subsequent plenary sessions, chaired by noted technologists, business leaders, authors, and lecturers will bring up potential game changers of interest, such as: globalization and virtual manufacturing organizations; shift from supply chain to demand chain; nanotechnology; e-Commerce; wireless technology, smart materials, smart bar codes, etc.; intelligent software, including augmented and virtual reality; and smart, mobile, flexible robotics. The session format will include speaker presentations, panel discussions, and dialogues with the speakers. The think tank conference environment will also offer ample opportunity for networking and idea exchange, stimulated by the intriguing topics. On Tuesday, May 8, CTMA is sponsoring a forum of program discussions of interest to both our DoD and industry participants. We are attempting to assemble a workshop agenda that focuses on funded programs from throughout DoD that involve similar themes. The objective is for participants from each program to describe their efforts. Collectively, we will then use the information to ensure that projects are not overlapping, but are instead working together. Proposed topics include telemaintenance, smart processing, solid freeform fabrication, and laser shock peening. To discover more about the future, visit Futurist.com™ at www.futurist.com, “your portal to the future on the World Wide Web,” founded and hosted by Glen Heimstra. For details about the NCMS 2001 Conference, watch for announcements to be posted on our Web site at www.ncms.org, in upcoming issues of the NCMS newsletter “NCMS at a Glance,” and in your mailbox. Project Idea Table: (click on topic to see its description) We have updated the list of new project ideas in this issue. Ideas that generated little or no interest were dropped. If you have interest in any of the projects listed below, contact Chuck Ryan at 734-995-4905.
We appreciate your feedback. Please contact Chuck Ryan with suggestions or input on other topics that would be of interest to you in this newsletter. The CTMA Program is sponsored by the Department of Defense; the content of the information in this newsletter does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government; no official endorsement should be inferred. |
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