Tooling & Equipment International (Livonia, Michigan) has won the AFS/Metal Casting Design & Purchasing Casting of the Year award for its motorcycle Cyclotron swingarm. TEI teamed with software company Autodesk to design and produce a casting that provides the ultimate performance characteristics with the minimum weight.

Originally a three-part billet machined into a box section, the new design reduced mass by 10% with an increase in torsional and bending stiffness. TEI cast and machined the part in three weeks using 3-D printed sand technology and extensive simulation. Casting and secondary processes such as machining and heat treating were carried out onsite, which minimized timing.

“Organic shapes like this one encourage adoption of optimization and truly use the benefits of the casting process,” said one casting competition judge.

The AFS/Metal Casting Design & Purchasing Magazine Casting Competition is held every year to give North American metalcasting facilities the chance to show the engineering and purchasing community what a cast metal part can accomplish.

Six other castings were honored as Best in Class or Honorable Mention winners.

Best in Class:

• Meridian Lightweight Technologies Inc. (Strathroy, Ontario, Canada)/General Motors (Warren, Michigan) for a magnesium side door inner panel.
• O’Fallon Casting (O’Fallon, Missouri) for an aluminum manifold body casting.
• Washburn Iron Works (Washburn, Wisconsin) for an iron disc.

Honorable Mention:

• Aristo-Cast Inc. (Almont, Michigan) for an onsite cube camera.
• AAM Columbiana (Columbiana, Alabama) for a lost foam torque rod.
• Wellman Dynamics Corp. (Creston, Iowa) for a high-pressure boost pump housing.

The American Foundry Society is a dynamic technical and advocacy organization that serves and represents the $33 billion metalcasting industry. AFS is the only association serving the entire industry, including all metals and processes, with a three-part focus on advocacy, education, and innovation. AFS also publishes Modern Casting and Metal Casting Design & Purchasing magazines and presents Metalcasting Congress and CastExpo, the largest metalcasting trade events in North America. Founded in 1896, the organization is based in Schaumburg, Illinois, with an advocacy office in Washington, D.C. More information is available at afsinc.org.