A Sustainability PLM Framework Integrated with SM Technologies for Improving Energy Productivity in SMM Metal Casting Foundries
Project Lead: Purdue University
Partners:
Member % Cost Share: 52.1%
CESMII % Cost Share: 47.9%
Duration: 6 Months
Problem Statement
Metal casting is regarded as a very energy intensive industry. In the post-pandemic era, metal casting industries sector have been challenged by workforce shortages and supply chain issues impacting the energy productivity and operational efficiency across the foundry lifecycle operations. Mostly owned and operated by SMMs
Project Goal
Develop a sustainability PLM (SPLM) framework connected to SMIP, that can be used as a decision support tool to guide the casting industry accurately perform energy lifecycle analysis of the entire value- adding foundry processes, and develop optimization of its operations. Application will be demonstrated on a foundry in Indiana, which is expected to improve energy productivity by 12% and reduce casting waste by 280 metric tons annually
Technical Approach
A novel SPLM model developed in Python using Knowledge Graphs to represent interrelationships among casting lifecycle processes, & data pipeline to connect/collect/analyze foundry data. Solutions developed to reduce dependency on labor and supply chain, using SM technologies (Digital Twin, AI/ML, AR/VR, and Smart Robotics) to automate core making process and to develop better gating design to increase casting yield
Deliverables/Outcomes/SM Marketplace
To be listed at project completion.
Potential Impact
a. The SPLM framework and SM techniques as a decision support tool for foundry industry stakeholders to efficiently respond to workforce shortage and supply chain issues,
b. Lower risk of performance and downtime losses, improve control over material yield and casting waste, and improve energy productivity in the SMM metal casting industries.
c. Improve the prospect of SMM metal casting industries to align to a sustainability PLM vision that considers the environmental impact of their decisions and actions
Benefits
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Project contributes to CESMIIs objective/goal of achieving 15% improvement in energy efficiency. Expected benefit from one implementation at a SMM is savings of 1,260 MWh, reduction of 7,100 metric tons of CO2 GHG emissions, and a reduction of 280 metric-tons of scrap annually from a 4% improvement in casting yield. All design tools and information models on SMIP/Marketplace used to develop the solutions, are scalable and universally applicable to other metal casting industries.
Project Selection & Announcements
