Selected Projects

LIFT’s projects are driven by our ecosystem to meet the needs of American industry and the U.S. warfighter. From developing new materials, to exploring innovative processes and integrating them into new systems in aerospace, shipbuilding, automotive and defense, LIFT’s projects are collaborative efforts between large and small industry, academia, research organizations and the government all to drive American manufacturing into the future.

Government

Developing Lightweight HMMWV Brake Rotors

High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) brake rotors are cast iron construction and are optimized for thermal capacity, wear and cost. They are heavy, prone…

 

Smarter Manufacturing Digital Twin

This project connects materials, processes and systems for optimal systems operation and component production. Including agile processes like Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and Incremental…

Coatings

An Integrated Database and Computational Models for Corrosion-Resistant Microstructural Design

This project is taking steps to develop an integrated materials property database and computational model to assess localized corrosion susceptibility based on a specification of…

Joining and Assembly

Robust Distortion Control Methods and Implementation for Construction of Lightweight Metallic Structures

The project will develop integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) tools that will accurately predict the distortion associated with the production of representative structural forms, such…

Melt Processing

Developing and Deploying Thin-Wall Ductile Iron Castings for High Volume Production

This project will focus on the manufacturing process development required to bring thin-wall, vertical green sand-molded ductile iron (DI) castings to high volume production.

Melt Processing

Thin-Wall Aluminum Die Casting Development

This project focuses on the development of High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) technologies for aluminum alloys that are required for producing high quality thin-wall aluminum…