When some of America's industrial giants need help on computer modeling for new products, they turn to a small Madison company founded by Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Y. Austin Chang.

Chang founded CompuTherm LLC in 1996 to provide industrial companies and research laboratories with easy-to-use computer software tools for developing phase diagrams and thermodynamic calculations. Among the company's clients: Alcoa Inc., General Motors Corp., and The Boeing Co. Chang said the company has also sold its software to corporate and government clients in Japan, Taiwan and Europe.

"What I really tried to do was apply thermodynamics modeling to the metals and metallurgy industry," Chang said.

Phase diagrams are critical in the development of new products and materials in the metallurgy industry. They essentially compute a temperature-composition diagram when two or more elements are combined. In other words, they can be thought of as a map that provides information on the microstructure of alloys at any given temperature and composition. Knowing the exact temperature and composition for alloys is critical when companies manufacture precise parts.

CompuTherm's software makes it easier for companies to create new products, Chang said.

"We can calculate these very complicated phase diagrams," he said.

One Wisconsin company that has worked closely with Chang and CompuTherm is Ladish Co., based in Cudahy. Ladish is a group of precision metalworking companies that manufacture forging, investment-casting, machining, and tool-making products for the aerospace, automobile, and transportation industries, as well as general industrial manufacturers.

"We deal with a lot of titanium alloys in forging, and his tools can help us with new alloys and experimental alloys," said David Furrer, manager of advanced materials and process technology for Ladish.

Furrer said CompuTherm's software allows Ladish to quicken the time of product development by eliminating experiments with alloys to determine the correct composition needed for manufacturing the product. That saves the company money, he said.

"That way we don't have to go do trial and error," he said. "We can make right-the-first-time parts."

Ladish is currently utilizing CompuTherm's software as part of a nine-company consortium effort financed by the U.S. Air Force to come up with better products and methods for aerospace forging. The other companies are major players in the aerospace industry, such as Boeing and engine manufacturers like General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce.

"We're all trying to figure out ways to more accurately and more quickly develop titanium microstructures and properties," he said. "We definitely see CompuTherm as a huge and valuable tool. We do a lot of work in titanium, and his expertise is going to be needed more and more in the industry."

Contact: Y. Austin Chang
608/262-0389