Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST)
- Stand Partner
BCAST is an academic research centre focusing on both fundamental and applied research on solidification of metallic materials.
BCAST was first established in October 2002, and is now one of the world’s strongest solidification research groups. It comprises around 100 members of staff. Current projects cover a wide selection of topics that range from high shear melt conditioning to direct chill (DC) casting to recycling to Molecular Dynamic Simulations of nuceation processes. In particular BCAST strives to realise a sustainable metals market and provide industries with environmentally friendly metal processing solutions.
Our research activities span from fundamental research, to alloy and technological developments to industrial applications. Our research is well supported by EPSRC, Innovate UK, APC, EU and a network of industrial companies including Constellium, JLR and MQP to list but a few. We also provide a unique collection of state-of-the-art facilities, including industrial scale metal casting and processing equipment, and atomic resolution materials characterisation.
BCAST’s long-term vision of the Hub is full metal circulation, in which the global demand for metallic materials is met by a full circulation of secondary metals (with only limited addition of primary metals each year) through reduced usage, reuse, remanufacture, closed-loop recycling and effective recovery and refining of secondary metals (as illustrated below). This represents a paradigm shift for metallurgical science, manufacturing technology and the industrial landscape.
BCAST, hosts a number of major reseaerch programmes. It hosts the EPSRC Future LiME Hub and the UKRI Circular Metals CE Hub. We support industry through problem solving activities, with PhD studentships, supporting government funded innovation projects, and in long-term strategic partnerships.
