{"id":214714,"date":"2024-06-03T07:30:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T11:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=214714"},"modified":"2024-06-05T15:40:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T19:40:05","slug":"connecticut-manufacturing-simulation-center-offers-technical-advising-to-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/06\/connecticut-manufacturing-simulation-center-offers-technical-advising-to-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center Offers Technical Advising to Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 1982, Aero Gear, Inc. in Windsor has worked to engineer and manufacture customized gears and gearbox assemblies for the global aerospace industry. These drive gear systems help control the power that moves an airplane forward for Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, Boeing, and many other aerospace businesses.<\/p>\n

\"ANSYS<\/a>
Since 2016, the CMSC has trained 1,800 UConn students on manufacturing and simulation software and processes. Pictured, mechanical engineering seniors are trained on the simulation software Ansys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the company has since grown from two to 170 employees and houses dozens of machining instruments, some processes cannot be carried out in the facility. So, they sought technical advice from UConn\u2019s Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center<\/a> (CMSC).<\/p>\n

\u201cCMSC has the tools\u2014and willing researchers\u2014to approach complex materials physics problems that we simply have no way to investigate,\u201d says Pat Brueckner, director of engineering at Aero Gear. \u201cOur collaboration with CMSC helps us understand our heat treat and machining processes from a more academic perspective and close a scientific gap that exists between academia and real-world applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

In partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration, CMSC provides technical support\u2014at no cost\u2014to small-to-medium manufacturing businesses in Connecticut. The center strives to promote innovation and economic development and train the next-generation workforce with computing and simulation skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome businesses may not have relevant expertise or resources to handle complicated processes or have the right machinery to complete a job,\u201d says Jeongho Kim, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of CMSC. \u201cWe\u2019re able to help, by being sort of an R&D department for them. They give us their problems and we work to find them answers through physics-based modeling and simulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

CMSC also provides finite element modeling and simulation, structural\/thermal\/fluid analysis, and machine learning methods for diagnosis and prognosis. It uses state-of-the-art equipment to aid manufacturers with welding, laser cutting, 3D printing, machining, milling, cutting, heat treating, die quenching, stamping, spinning, metal forming, forging, casting, injection molding, composites manufacturing and additive manufacturing needs.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a>
Professor Jeongho Kim is director and Professor Jiong Tang is associate director of UConn’s Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But more importantly, the well-trained CMSC staff<\/a> can work one-on-one with industry partners to help them find solutions for problems. Led by Director Kim and Associate Director Jiong Tang, United Technologies Corporation Professor of Advanced Materials and Processing, the CMSC team also consists of engineering graduate students and technicians.<\/p>\n

For Aero Gear, the CMSC staff is helping with heat treatment and carburizing processes solutions for a customized steel gear. These processes can help ensure the metal is more durable and wear-resistant. CMSC is also taking the lead on crafting aluminum accessory gearbox housing by using a high precision milling process known as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeongho and his team will regularly present their latest findings and those data help shape our decision-making process when we run into manufacturing problems,\u201d Brueckner says. \u201cTheir research is certainly helpful and has made our process more efficient. In my opinion, the partnership over the last few years has been very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its establishment in 2016, the CMSC contracted with 40 industries and trained more than 300 professionals, 1,800 UConn students, and 24 community students.<\/p>\n

The center currently collaborates with Aero Gear<\/a> and three other key industry partners: PCX Aerosystems<\/a> in Newington; Carey Manufacturing<\/a> in Cromwell; and Advanced Manufacturing, LLC<\/a> in East Hartford.<\/p>\n

The CMSC\u2019s staff is working with PCX Aerospace on a carburization simulation of a steel thin-walled gear shaft used in the aerospace industry. \u201cWe greatly appreciate the CMSC\u2019s professional work and willingness to address our technical needs,\u201d says Gregory Niedbala, engineering manager at PCX Aerosystems. \u201cTheir simulation support has been helpful in overcoming challenges and achieving our goals. Their commitment to excellence and dedication to our success speaks volumes to the positive impact they have.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Carey Manufacturing, the team is helping business leaders Alison Carey and Mike Fitzpatrick on developing a simulation that depicts how a laser beam could cut through carbon steel.<\/p>\n

\"CMSC<\/a>
CMSC is working with Advanced Manufacturing LLC on a friction stir welding simulation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And for Advanced Manufacturing LLC, CMSC is working with company president Dongsheng Li and process engineer Oliver Walz on a friction stir welding simulation and optimization. Friction stir welding technology allows for workpieces to be joined without needing to reach a melting point, hence, avoiding many of the issues present in traditional welding methods such as thermal stresses which can result in part failure under stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of kneading of two pieces of dough or clay together in order to join them into a homogeneous solid,\u201d Walz explains. \u201cThis process achieves a very high strength weld and is most commonly used in industries that fabricate aluminum parts but can be used to weld polymers, steels, copper, and even dissimilar metals.\u201d<\/p>\n

With only six employees, the small business will benefit from results of CMSC\u2019s simulation by helping to improve the efficiency and efficacy of its technology processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cCMSC\u2019s work in simulating material behavior of the entire welding process is a significant contribution to our company\u2019s engineering practices,\u201d Walz says. \u201cThe greater understanding of material behavior these simulations show, will give us the ability to predict and mitigate negative effects of a weld on a workpiece such as material stresses, deformation, and weld faults.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center is housed at the Engineering and Science Building at UConn\u2019s campus. For more information, visit the Connecticut Manufacturing Center\u2019s website<\/a> or LinkedIn page.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CMSC promotes innovation and economic development through modeling and simulation work while teaching the next-generation workforce advanced computing and simulation skills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":214833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,2471,2460,2193,2235,2227],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2514],"class_list":["post-214714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-economic-development","category-faculty","category-hartford-county","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-edu-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-04 02:34:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214714"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215104,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214714\/revisions\/215104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/214833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214714"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=214714"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=214714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}