This chapter discusses the advantages and disadvantages of sandwich and integral cocured structures, and the methods by which they are made. It begins by explaining where and how sandwich construction is used and why it is so efficient. It then describes the design and fabrication of honeycomb panels and foam cores along with their respective applications and unique attributes. The chapter also discusses the cocuring process and its use in fabricating unitized structures.

This chapter discusses the advantages, limitations, and applications of various aluminum casting processes, namely green sand casting process, air set or no-bake molding process, vacuum molding process, evaporative foam casting process, and die casting process. The processes covered also include gravity permanent molding, low-pressure permanent molding, counter pressure, squeeze casting, investment casting, rapid prototype casting, cast forge hybrid, and semisolid metal processes.

The aluminum alloy skin on the main rotor blade of a helicopter tore off in flight, and an investigation was subsequently conducted to find the cause. Visual examination and SEM fractography revealed that a fatigue crack originated on the underside of a rivet hole at the trailing edge of the blade. The crack then propagated through the outer skin toward the leading edge of the blade. Once the fatigue crack reached critical length, the sheet metal fractured catastrophically, tearing away from the blade.

This chapter discusses recycling processes used for metals, plastics, rubber, glass, and paper. Is also describes the advantages of recycled materials.

This appendix contains abbreviations and symbols related to aluminum alloy castings.

This chapter describes various aspects of the billet making process and how they affect the quality of aluminum extrusions. It begins with an overview of the direct-chill continuous casting technique and its advantages over other methods, particularly for hard aluminum alloys. It then discusses the influence of casting variables, including pouring temperature and cooling rate, and operating considerations such as the make-up of charge materials, fluxing and degassing procedures, and grain refining. The chapter also provides information on vertical and horizontal casting systems, billet homogenization, and the cause of casting defects, including cracking and splitting, segregation, porosity, and grain growth.

This chapter describes the processes, applications, and limitations of forming and shaping various materials. It discusses bulk forming, hot working, cold working, sheet forming, and polymer and powder processing.

This chapter is intended to identify materials, processes, and designs that will lead to great advances in powder-binder forming technologies. It discusses some of the structures obtained through these advances in powder-binder technologies such as binder jetting and extrusion-based additive manufacturing, including bound-metal deposition and fused-filament fabrication: oxidation-resistant high-temperature alloys, anisotropic structures, submicrometer-scale structures, surface hard materials, and artist metallic clays. Some of the advances discussed include the developments in process involving plastics, emulsions, ceramics, and porous structures and foams. Improvements in the design processes have led to the development of functional structures, controlled porosity, and bioinspired structures.

Polymer-matrix composites are among the lightest structural materials in use today. They are also highly resistant to corrosion and fatigue and their load-carrying capabilities, such as strength and stiffness, can be tailored for specific applications. This chapter discusses the primary advantages and disadvantages of polymer-matrix composites, how they are produced, and how they perform in different applications. It describes the construction of laminates, the fibers and resins used, and the methods by which they are combined. It explains how strength, modulus, toughness, and high-temperature and corrosion behaviors are determined by the orientation, shape, and spacing of fibers, the number of plies, resin properties, and consolidation and forming methods. The chapter also covers secondary fabrication processes, such as thermoforming, machining, and joining, as well as production equipment and product forms, and include guidelines for optimizing tradeoffs when selecting fibers, resins, and production techniques.

This chapter defines steel castings, explains when to use steel castings, gives an overview of casting processes, and gives examples of suitable applications for cast steel parts.

Pattern equipment is the tooling utilized to form the mold cavity of a casting. This chapter first discusses the following factors that should be considered for determining the type of pattern equipment: number of castings to be produced, mold processes to be employed, dimensional tolerances required, casting design, and pattern cost. It also discusses the factors that should be considered when engineering a pattern. The chapter then presents the types of materials used for pattern construction. It provides an overview of patternmaker's shrinkage allowance. Finally, the chapter presents the factors that govern the space requirements for pattern storage.

This chapter begins with information on the historical development of aluminum alloy castings. It then covers the basic factors involved in the selection of a casting process. This is followed by sections describing the various categories of casting processes and their variants: expendable mold gravity-feed casting, nonexpendable (permanent) mold gravity feed casting, and pressure die casting. Next, the chapter describes the technologies used to produce premium engineered castings and when such castings may be relevant. The chapter concludes with descriptions of other process technologies used with castings, including metallurgical bonding, metal-matrix composites, and hot isostatic pressing.

This article describes key processing methods and related design, manufacturing, and application considerations for plastic parts and includes a discussion on materials and process selection methodology for plastics. The discussion covers the primary plastic processing methods and how each process influences part design and the properties of the plastic part. It also includes a brief description of functional requirements in process selection; an overview of various process effects and how they affect the functions and properties of the part; and the selection of processes for size, shape, and design detail factors.

This chapter describes the processes involved in alloy production, including melting, casting, solidification, and fabrication. It discusses the effects of alloying on solidification, the formation of solidification structures, supercooling, nucleation, and grain growth. It describes the design and operation of melting furnaces as well as melting practices and the role of fluxing. It also discusses casting methods, nonferrous casting alloys, and atomization processes used to make metal powders.

This chapter discusses the use of nondestructive inspection methods, including visual, ultrasonic, radiographic, and thermographic techniques, and the types of flaws and damages they can reveal in composite parts and assemblies. It describes the basic principles behind each method along with best practices and procedures.

This chapter presents guidelines for product designers to choose the best process and alloys while designing a casting. The discussion covers some of the factors pertinent to the selection of the best process for the product function and performance, namely geometric factors, mechanical properties, tooling cost per piece, and overall cost factors. The chapter contains tables listing several markets, products, popular processes, and common alloys and the common processes used for a variety of markets and products.