In response to The Boeing Company, Commercial Airplane Group's desire to replace case carburization with induction hardening of flight control gears, KMPS has developed a method to measure material properties for use in the simulation of induction hardening. Due to the cost effectiveness and reduced environmental and health hazards of induction hardening, Boeing wishes to take advantage of this process in replacement of case carburization. Current estimation of the material properties used to simulate this process must be made intuitively, resulting in a technique involving trial and error. KMPS in conjunction with Boeing has developed a method to measure material properties to solve this problem.
To accurately measure material properties such as thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and relative permeability, KMPS proposes a solution with three separate components. For thermal conductivity, a commercially available apparatus has been selected to measure this property experimentally as a sole function of temperature. Electrical conductivity will then be calculated using the Wiedemann-Franz Law, which relates electrical conductivity to thermal conductivity. Finally, a rough design to develop an apparatus to measure relative permeability has been proposed with a plan forward to deliver additional resources and contacts to further support the development.
In addition to the proposed solution, KMPS has investigated alternate solutions for Boeing to consider. A state of the art computational simulation developed by the Department of Energy and Sandia National Laboratory is currently available for licensing and would provide Boeing with a comprehensive solution. Furthermore, KMPS has selected two companies specializing in induction hardening to provide Boeing with the option to out-shop. These alternate solutions are possibly less expensive than the proposed solution and worth considering.
Michelle Poulos - Project Manager mmp160@psu.edu
Brian McGill - Technical Coordinator gbm104@psu.edu
Kevin Krebs - Recording Secretary kdk115@psu.edu
JoAnn Swaim - Webmaster jms387@psu.edu
Penn State Mechanical Engineering Dept.