Shiloh Industries Inc., a supplier of lightweighting, noise and vibration solutions, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) program to accelerate the development of innovative energy efficient casting methods.

For the project, titled “Development of a Transformational Micro-Cooling Technology for High-Pressure Die Casting using High-Performance Computing,” Shiloh will work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to accurately model the detail boiling in casting cooling channels. The ability to model critical variables such as uniform temperature distribution, various mechanical properties and heat transfer related defects will have a major impact on energy management and efficiency.

“By incorporating high-performance computing into our analytical processes we will be able to accurately model large sections of the cooling channels. The data will be used in our tool simulations to create dies that will operate with lower energy costs and shorter cycles, reducing waste and rejected parts,” said Alex Reikher, technical fellow, research and development at Shiloh Industries.

The HPC4Mfg program was established in March 2015 to create an ecosystem that allows experts at DOE’s national laboratories to work directly with manufacturing industry members. The program teaches manufacturers how to adopt or advance their use of high-performance computing to address manufacturing challenges with a goal of increasing energy efficiency, reducing environmental impacts and advancing clean energy technologies.