October ASTIA Demo day

The Industrial Application of the Surfi-Sculpt® Process
Thursday, 1st October 2009 at TWI, Granta Park, Cambridge

ENROL ONLINE at: www.eventsforce.net/09ADD  

Featuring
- Live demonstration of Surfi-Sculpt® application in Thermacore’s liquid cooling solutions
- Presentation by Thermacore Europe’s Dr Ryan McGlen and Arben Ferhati

>> View Thermacore's Surfi-Sculpt® Demo day flyer here <<

About
This one day event offers the first opportunity to see the output from a Government established Technology Strategy Board project, known as “ASTIA” which aims to reduce the technical and economic risks of deploying Surfi-Sculpt® as a production process. Come and see the benefits that this innovative surface processing technology could offer to your products!

This event will provide an introduction to the process for anyone with a requirement to produce complex functional surface geometries, with many examples of processed surfaces and components available to view.

It will be of interest to anyone considering the use of products manufactured with the Surfi-Sculpt® process and is key to those considering the use of the process in a production environment.

Background
The Surfi-Sculpt® process has the capability to rapidly create reproducible, complex surface geometries that are not possible through conventional manufacturing routes. An electron beam (EB) is deflected rapidly over a substrate surface to displace material in a controlled manner. The result is a textured surface consisting of an array of protrusions above the original surface and a corresponding array of protrusions above the original surface and a corresponding array of intrusions or cavities in the substrate. The process can be used to generate tailor-made, complex surface structures in a range of materials in a few seconds/cm2.

The ASTIA project, supported by both the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and EPSRC has addressed the issues necessary to take the Surfi-Sculpt® process from a laboratory technology to an industrially viable process. A prototype low cost EB Surfi-Sculpt® machine with a novel gun electrode design has been developed and applied to a new generation of orthopaedic implants and for the manufacture of highly efficient custom designed heat exchangers for applications in a range of industry sectors.

A QA tool has been developed for the characterization and quantification of the complex surfaces produced. The ASTIA Demonstration day offers an opportunity to see the latest developments and to learn from the forerunners how you too can benefit from this exciting technology.

Benefits of attending
Watch the action in process Have a close look at products and surfaces that have been manufactured using the Surfi-Sculpt® process See the benefits that the Surfi-Sculpt® process can bring to a range of product streams and discuss this with industrial companies investing in the process.

Learn how complex surfaces may be characterized using a newly developed QA system. First public viewing of a prototype production machine with the manufacturer on hand to answer questions Discuss with experts how the Surfi-Sculpt® process could revolutionise your products  

Programme
0930: Registration and coffee
1000: Introduction to the ASTIA project, with Anita Buxton TWI
1015: Introduction toSurfi-Sculpt® technology, with Bruce Dance, TWI
1045: Low cost EB Surfi-Sculpt® prototype machine, with S. Horrex, Aquasium Technology
1110: Demonstration of manufacturing capability
1200: Buffet Lunch
1315: Industrial App. 1: Heat Exchangers with Dr Ryan McGlen & Arben Ferhati, Thermacore
1345: Industrial App. 2: Orthopaedic implants with Jim Trustcott, Symmetry Medical
1415: Surface characterisation and QA with Jennifer Ang, University of Southampton
1445: Forthcoming collaborative opportunities with Colin Robton, TWI
1500: Close, refreshments and optional tour of TWI  

ASTIA Demonstration day in association with TWI, Thermacore Europe, University of South Hampton and Cambridge Vacuum Engineering, Symmetry Medical. Supported by TSB and EPSRC.

For more information about Surfi-Sculpt® and Thermacore Europe, please contact Dr Ryan McGlen: r.j.mcglen@thermacore.com