Campus to obtain new hydraulic press

The value of a mechanical engineering degree from MSU could increase after a cutting-edge, 250-ton hydraulic press is delivered to campus in July.

Farhang Pourboghrat, associate professor of mechanical engineering, said the press can be used to train undergraduate and graduate students about a process called thermo-hydro forming.

With a traditional press, two metal dies sandwich materials to form a particular shape, such as aluminum being used to form automotive parts.

With a hydraulic press, one die is still mechanical, but the opposite side uses high-pressure fluid to shape material.

The thermo-hydro forming process is more sophisticated than a traditional press, said Roger Eaton, project engineer for Metalist International Inc.

“It’s a more consistent forming operation,” Eaton said. “It will result in more fluidity of the part you’re trying to make, so it doesn’t stretch or thin out in certain areas, or crack or tear.”

The National Science Foundation awarded MSU a grant to fund the $450,000 press.

Pourboghrat will head a research team at MSU that will use the press to experiment with adding polymers, plastic and other synthetics to reinforce traditional metals.

Adding biocompatible materials to medical applications can increase the shelf life of metal in hip replacement surgery from 10 years to 20, he said.

“The idea is to reinforce the materials with the good particles of some sort and be able to use that to make a structure,” he said. “It can be as small as a cup over a femur bone or as large as an airplane engine.”

Pourboghrat said the press won’t be used as a classroom tool, but research from experiments will be used in the classroom for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Students also will have the opportunity to apply for a position with the research team in the summer.

Brandon Hengesbach, a mechanical engineering junior, said the quality of MSU’s new equipment will make his degree more prestigious when he graduates.

“With (MSU) having that technology, other companies will hear that and have more of an interest in hiring someone from MSU with an engineering degree,” he said.

“If I had an interest in automotive, I would see it as a huge plus.”

Published on Sunday, March 9, 2008