Original Date: 11/03/1996
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Precision casting requires an experienced operator with expert skills and knowledge. Typically passed from expert to apprentice employee, casting skills and knowledge are now being lost through downsizing. However, Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) is developing a Traced Oralloy Casting Advisor (TOCA) system which will preserve the skills and knowledge of top casting experts in the area of depleted uranium.

The TOCA system will also provide instructions for making uranium alloy castings with uniform loading of trace elements. Tracers (low-concentration, metal-element additions to uranium) are used for radiochemical diagnostic purposes after a test weapon event. The TOCA system will determine the material types, forms, and amounts; select the form for pouring the billet; specify the furnace type and temperature profile; and choose the quenching and cooling conditions. Additional instructions will provide the user with critical mold design dimensions, the best tracer alloying method, the appropriate charge mass, the required tracer mass, furnace capacity, and safety information.

ORCMT expects the TOCA system to reduce the time, cost, and training requirements associated with making accurate castings. Phase I will concentrate on capturing the casting knowledge and building it into a working, user- friendly system. Phase II will focus on identifying methods that will reduce costs, improve schedules, increase efficiency, and provide quick response times.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.