Mission Area

 

Research Topic

  • Manufacturing processes

 

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The Solidification Laboratory conducts research into fundamental aspects of solidification and their application in casting of metals.

The laboratory is supported by federal and state agencies and by industry. Research ranges from basic experimental and computational studies of microstructure evolution to modeling and simulation of a wide variety of industrial metal casting processes. Collaboration with the casting industry has resulted in custom-made software for process control, new capabilities in commercially available casting simulation software, and strategies for yield improvement and defect prevention. Facilities include numerous state-of-the-art computer workstations and experimental test setups.


 

Director

Christoph Beckermann

Christoph Beckermann, PhD

Title/Position
Director, Solidification Laboratory
University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering

News

Portrait of Christoph Beckermann

University of Iowa professor to send metal alloys research to the International Space Station

Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Professor Christoph Beckermann will be working alongside a team at NASA to observe metal alloy grains as they are melted in a mirco-gravity furnace.
Alloy study

UI engineers to study the grain structure of metal alloys on the International Space Station

Friday, August 21, 2020
A research team led by Prof. Christoph Beckermann will compare metal samples that have been solidified in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station against similar samples formed on Earth.