DIS Metallurgical Service

Welcome to our Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) site

 

We have decided to pursue Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding (America's Seed Fund) to finance our plan to bring manufacturing back to the heartland of America. Why? Because we have an idea and dream, that through innovation, traditional manufacturing can be improved and sustainable. We believe that manufacturing is what made America great and should continue to be the backbone of our economic strength. We believe with your help and partnership we can make this become a reality through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR).

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In order to succeed we are in need of sponsorship or partnership with a crankshaft manufacturer or OEM end-user.

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The Company and  Proposed Team
 

DIS Metallurgical Service located in Darien Illinois, provides innovative metallurgical solutions to diverse customers.  DIS Metallurgical Service owns two US patents: “Method of eliminating the heat affected zone in welded crankshaft” US 9,095, 891 and “Method of eliminating the heat affected zone in welded articles” US 9,254,518, which form the basis of the DISFOR process.

Key Personnel for this proposal:
Dusan Milicevic M.Sc., DISMetServ, President/Owner, Principal Investigator (PI), metallurgist, 30 years in design, engineering, forge shop management, 15 years direct crankshaft manufacture.
John Romanelli, DISMetServ, Project Manager, 35 years of experience in various industries as a project manager responsible for multimillion dollar manufacturing/technology projects.
DISMetServ has a committed teaming agreement with a major mid-western technological university, with access to the facilities, labs, staff and other resources. This partner will provide consultation and materials testing.
DISMetServ is in partnership with a nationwide industry leading state of the art process design and analysis materials forming software technologies company. This partner has extensive experience in developing FEM software to analyze metal forming operations.

 

If required DIS Metallurgical Service has well known consultants available from local manufacturing, engineering, technical companies and universities.

The Market Opportunity, Value Proposition and Customers
 

DISFOR developed by DIS Metallurgical Service, is a disruptive process that combines known techniques in an innovative controlled process that eliminates brittleness and HAZ in weld structure. DISFOR makes it possible to manufacture flashless near net shape crankshaft preforms with advanced properties to be used in manufacture of finished crankshafts. 
State-of-art crankshaft manufacture methodology produces millions of dollars of material waste due to flash and excessive machining, consumes large amounts of energy and creates significant environmental waste. DISFOR near net flashless crankshaft preforms use two (2X) less billet material than current methods, reducing material waste due to flash and machining. DISFOR is a sustainable process with less environmental impact, and reduces critical resource waste. DISFOR can use next generation alloys and provides design flexibility to tailor mechanical properties such as, stiffness and fatigue strength.
Crankshafts are typically produced from three methods, casting, forging and machined billets.  Casting and forging are used in high volume production, have high capital investment in equipment and tooling. Casting produces crankshafts with inferior mechanical properties. Forging uses large presses, multiple operations and large amounts of energy. The machined billet process is a machining intensive method, for low volume manufacture.
 

Our value proposition is that DISFOR flashless, near net shape, crankshaft preforms are:

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• Competitive with casting and forging cost: DISFOR has smaller/simpler equipment, less material waste, lower energy needs.

• Competitive with casting mechanical properties: DISFOR has higher strength (fatigue, ductility).

•  Competitive with machined billet cost: DISFOR requires less machining, creates less material waste.

• Competitive with casting, forging and machined billet processes in quality: DISFOR offers higher quality and better mechanical properties.

 

The broader  impact is DISFOR provides a method to manufacture new classes of high fatigue, light weight crankshafts for engines requiring increased fuel efficiency and higher output. DISFOR is relevant to advancing forging technology innovation with increased productivity, strengthened competition and realized cost benefit. DISFOR can be applied to a wider range of product applications and industries.

Annual global production of forged crankshafts is 100 million (est). The USA has an estimated usage of 15 million forged crankshafts per year. Our target customers are crankshaft manufacturers and OEM end-users requiring a new class of high performance crankshafts in automobiles, trucks, heavy equipment, generators, engines, and any product incorporating crankshafts. Initially our target market for commercialization are smaller to mid-sized manufacturers that are open to opportunity, recognize the inherent benefits of DISFOR and embrace innovation.

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