Richard Gundlach

He has published and consulted in the areas of cast aluminum; gray, ductile and white irons; austempered ductile irons and steels; thermal fatigue; and abrasion resistance. 

During his career, Rick has authored and co-authored more than 50 papers published in AFS Transactions, Metallurgical Transactions, Metals Progress, International Cast Metals Journal, Casting Engineering, and various conference proceedings.Rick is a recipient of the Award of Scientific Merit and the Howard F. Taylor award by AFS, and three of Rick’s papers won the Best Paper award with AFS. He has co-authored a handbook on abrasion-resistant white irons, chapters in two ASM handbooks on cast irons, and a chapter in the AFS Ductile Iron Handbook. Rick’s activities involve materials consulting, metallurgical analysis, and alloy development, primarily for the foundry industry and its customers. Industry Experience Rick has been a Senior Metallurgical Engineer at Element, a metallurgical engineering and testing laboratory located in Wixom, Michigan. Prior to Element he was senior metallurgical engineer with Stork Climax Research Services from 2006 to 2012. He co-founded Climax Research Services in 1987, and was president and Senior Metallurgical Engineer with CRS till 2006, when Stork purchased CRS. Prior to that, Rick was a metallurgical engineer and research supervisor for eighteen years at Climax Molybdenum Company (AMAX) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rick holds BS and MS degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Industry Experience

Rick has been a Senior Metallurgical Engineer at Element, a metallurgical engineering and testing laboratory located in Wixom, Michigan. Prior to Element he was senior metallurgical engineer with Stork Climax Research Services from 2006 to 2012. He co-founded Climax Research Services in 1987, and was president and Senior Metallurgical Engineer with CRS till 2006, when Stork purchased CRS. Prior to that, Rick was a metallurgical engineer and research supervisor for eighteen years at Climax Molybdenum Company (AMAX) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rick holds BS and MS degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Project Experience 

Rick has conducted metallurgical consulting and failure analysis with a specialization in a variety of ferrous cast iron types (gray, ductile, compacted graphite, and white iron) as well as cast aluminum and cast magnesium alloys. He is a recognized expert in cast metals and a consultant on alloy design and processing, primarily for the foundry industry and its predominantly automotive customers. 

Articles 

• Gundlach, R. B., Ross, B., Hetke, A., Valtierra, S., and Mojica, J.F., “Thermal Fatigue Resistance of Hypoeutectic Aluminum-Silicon Casting Alloys,” Trans. AFS, v. 102, 1994. p 205 
• Gundlach, R. B. and J.D. Mullins, “Improving the Properties of Austempered Ductile Iron” SAE Paper no. 2002-01-1307, 2002. 
• Gundlach, R.B., Meyer, M.H., and Winardi, L., “Influence of Mn and S on the Properties of Cast Iron: Part III – Testing and Analysis” AFS paper no. 14-158, 2014. 

Conferences 

• Tartaglia, J.M., Gundlach, R.B. and Goodrich, G.M., “Optimizing the Strength Ductility Balance in Ductile Iron”, AFS/DIS Keith Millis Symposium, 2013.  
• Loper, C.R. Jr., Gundlach, R. B., “Inoculation - What Is It and How Does It Work,” Proceedings of International Inoculation Conference, April 6-8, 1998, Rosemont, IL, publ. AFS 
• Gundlach, R.B., Janowak, JF, Bechet,S, Rohrig, K., “On the Problems with Carbide Formation in Gray Cast Iron,” CONFERENCE: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Physical Metallurgy of Cast Iron. 29-31 Aug. 1984; Stockholm, Sweden. Physical Metallurgy of Cast Iron, Fredriksson, H., Hillert, M., North-Holland, New York, NY, USA. 1985; xiii+552 pp. p.251-61