About

Alan Druschitz is a Professor of Practice and Eminent Scholar at Virginia Tech, where he serves as the Director of the Kroehling Advanced Materials Foundry and the Director of the Virginia Tech Foundry Institute for Research and Education (VT FIRE). His research interests include metal casting processes, ferrous and non-ferrous alloy development, ballistic and armor materials, heat treating, welding, materials and component testing, non-destructive testing, failure analysis, corrosion, and residual stresses. Druschitz holds a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. He has been recognized with the College of Engineering Dean's Award for Excellence in Service in 2018.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Metallurgy
• Composite material
• Structural engineering
• Thermodynamics

Selected publications

• Assessing the Use of 3D Printed Patterns for Use in Investment Casting

  International Journal of Metalcasting · 2026-04-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Foundries commonly use wax to create patterns for investment casting. Wax use can lead to material waste and increase the time needed to produce parts, as wax patterns frequently need to be corrected, often by hand. Utilizing 3D printed patterns offers the opportunity to increase the precision of castings as well as reduce material waste, especially within smaller scale operations with custom patterns. Two filaments, polylactic acid (PLA) and PolyCast, were compared. For this investigation, four patterns of differing shape and infill were printed using both filaments. Using the shell method of investment casting, a ceramic mold was created from the patterns. These molds were sintered and poured using gray iron. Throughout this process, the molds and final casting were observed to assess the differences between each type of filament and their viability for investment casting, with less damage observed on the PolyCast molds once the pattern was burned out.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Electrochemical Evaluation of Al-5 wt% Zn Metal-Rich Primer for Protection of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy in NaCl

  CORROSION · 2024-01-18 · 7 citations

  article

  An intact and X-scribed Al-5wt%Zn-rich primer (AlRP) without pretreatment or topcoat was evaluated for its ability to suppress potential-dependent intergranular corrosion and intergranular stress corrosion cracking of peak-aged AA7075A-T651 in NaCl salt fog and full immersion. The ability of the primer to provide sacrificial anode-based cathodic prevention of peak-aged AA7075-T651 substrate was evaluated both under the primer coating and at scratches. The AlRP evaluated consisted an epoxy-based resin embedded with spherical Al-5wt%Zn pigment particles. Performance was evaluated under full immersion in 0.6 M NaCl solution and compared to ASTM B117 salt spray exposure using two approaches. These consisted of the University of Virginia (UVA) cycle test on intact coatings and the full immersion galvanic couple testing on simulated scratched panels created when intact coatings form bimetal couples with bare AA7075-T651. Focus was placed on the ability of the AlRP to achieve a targeted intermediate galvanic couple potential near a “prevention” potential which suppresses stress corrosion crack growth, intermetallic particle corrosion as well as intergranular corrosion. The long-term (24-h) open-circuit potential (OCP) of AlRP-coated AA7075-T651 in 0.6 M NaCl indicated that the AlRP provided less than 100 mV of cathodic potential shift of the intact coating from its OCP in 0.6 M NaCl. Electrochemical cycle testing conducted at a potentiostatic hold of –0.95 VSCE demonstrates that the AlRP did not enable sacrificial anode-based cathodic protection as the coupled potential remained at the corrosion potential of bare AA7075-T651. Furthermore, the current observed throughout galvanic corrosion experiments coupling of AlRP to AA7075-T651 indicated the AlRP coating was a cathode in the bimetal galvanic couple. ASTM B117 salt spray exposure of the AlRP revealed oxidation of the AA7075-T651 substrate below the primer detected as a continually growing oxygen signal at the primer-substrate interface that did not arrest corrosion over the exposure period.

  PublisherDOI

• Parametric Study on the Performance of Cast Lattice Structures Loaded at Low Strain-Rates

  JOM · 2023-04-06 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cast Medium-Manganese FeMnAlSiC Steel

  International Journal of Metalcasting · 2023 · 5 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Metallurgy
  • Composite material
  PublisherDOI

• Medium-Manganese FeMnSiAlC Advanced High-Strength Steels

  2023-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Penetration Resistance of Cast Metal−Ceramic Composite Lattice Structures

  Advanced Engineering Materials · 2021 · 7 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Composite material
  • Metallurgy

  A challenging issue in armor mechanics is to optimize the impact resistance of a target per unit areal mass. Herein, the penetration resistance of an A356 alloy–ceramic lattice structure with ceramic tiles encapsulated in the metal matrix is experimentally and computationally studied to achieve this objective. A hybrid additive manufacturing/metal‐casting technique is used to fabricate the structure. The performance is experimentally evaluated by impacting the tiles at normal incidence with 0.30‐cal armor‐piercing projectiles and 7.62 M80 rounds traveling at high speed. X‐ray imaging and electron microscopy techniques are used to ascertain the quality of the castings and the damage caused to the target by the projectiles. The cast material is tested following ASTM standard E8/E8M to determine the yield stress and hardening coefficients in the Johnson–Cook model. Large deformations of the components are analyzed using the finite element software LS‐DYNA. The penetrator's computed residual velocities differ from their test values by less than 4% for the 0.30‐cal projectiles and 19% for the ball rounds. The effects of several design variables (e.g., tile thickness and location, among others) are numerically scrutinized. The proposed design is ≈20% lighter than the solid metal target to achieve the same residual velocity of the penetrator.

  PublisherDOI

• A Comparative Study of DLEPR Techniques for Cast Austenitic Stainless Steel

  2021-04-19

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Double-Loop Electrochemical Potentiodynamic Reactivation (DLEPR) is a useful technique to measure the degree of sensitization (DoS) in austenitic stainless steels, as it is fast, nondestructive, and accurate in identifying low to medium DoS. While its use has been well-established for wrought austenitic stainless steels, the same is not true for their cast equivalents. A modified version, with more aggressive conditions in order to more selectively cause reactivation in regions that had residual ferrite from solidification, was tested with cast austenitic stainless steel spanning both UNS J92500 and J92600 compositions. Testing included microstructural evaluation of polished surfaces after the electrochemical tests and DoS measurements. The modified DLEPR consistently measured higher DoS values, but the trends in the data were the same for both versions of the test. Microscopy was more difficult with the modified DLEPR, as the surfaces were more severely corroded, somewhat masking smaller features such as inclusions and twin boundaries.

  PublisherDOI

• Thermophysical Properties of Fe30Mn4Al0.9C: A Coupled Computational-Experimental Approach

  International Journal of Metalcasting · 2021 · 3 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Thermodynamics
  • Metallurgy
  PublisherDOI

• Laboratory Assessment of Simulated Seawater Corrosion Resistance of Ni-Al-Bronze

  2019-03-24

  articleSenior author

  Abstract The simulated-seawater corrosion resistance of Ni-Al-Bronze (UNS C63200) was determined using the cyclic polarization technique. Samples of UNS C63200 were heat-treated in the 1300° F (705° C) to 1700° F (925° C) temperature range overnight and then water quenched. One sample was given the standard anneal at 1225° F (665° C) for six hours and then air cooled. The samples were tested in ASTM D1141 synthetic seawater. Current as a function of voltage (versus the saturated calomel electrode) was measured. Both forward and reverse scans were applied to the samples. The forward scans showed distinct changes in the anodic peaks; with the lower heat treatment temperatures exhibiting anodic peaks at higher voltages. The annealed sample had the lowest anodic peak. Twenty-four hour potentiostatic and 1-hour open circuit tests were also performed.

  PublisherDOI

• Mechanical and material properties of castings produced via 3D printed molds

  Additive manufacturing · 2019-03-02 · 55 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christopher B. Williams

  14 shared

• Dean Snelling

  Georgia Southern University

  9 shared

• Ricardo Emilio Aristizábal Sierra

  6 shared

• James G. Schroth

  General Motors (United States)

  4 shared

• Edward A. Druschitz

  4 shared

• David Fitzgerald

  Medical University of South Carolina

  4 shared

• Eric R. Showalter

  3 shared

• Thomas R. Watkins

  3 shared

Awards & honors

• 2018, College of Engineering Dean's Award for Excellence in…