C.Wilhelm, Bundesverband der Deutschen Giesserei-Industrie, Duesseldorf, Germany
FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR FOUNDRY TECHNOLOGY

Badarinath Kalkunte¹, Vlastimil Kolda², Ole Köser¹, Jürgen Rückert³, Peter Ubl³, ¹Calcom ESI SA, ²Mecas ESI s.r.o, Czech Republic, ³PSE-A – EPFL
NOVEL MODELLING APPROACH TO VIRTUALLY TEST OF THE PART EJECTION IN DIE CASTING

Franc Zupanič¹, Gorazd Lojen¹, Matej Steinacher², Tonica Bončina¹, ¹University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia, ² Impol 2000, d. d., 2310 Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia
EFFECT OF SCANDIUM ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE ALUMINIUM CASTING ALLOY A356

Boris Čuk, Siapro d.o.o.
REDUCTION OF PRODUCTION COSTS VIA BENTONITE CLAY POWDER RECLAMATION (CASE STUDY)

C.Wilhelm, Bundesverband der Deutschen Giesserei-Industrie, Duesseldorf, Germany

FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR FOUNDRY TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Foundry technology has experienced a continuous development within the past 100 years.
However, what remained nearly unchanged in spite of the technical advancement of the processes and in spite of the automation is the necessity to control handling the natural materials and the laws of nature during the casting process. I will use the influence of dendrite formation on the mechanical properties of the material as an example to illustrate how the technical processes and the raw materials used influence each other. The main demands resulting from these findings are to achieve and maintain stable and standardized processes.

Product design, which in the automotive industry is to a large extent driven by the demand for weight reduction, forces the foundries to continuously enhance their casting processes. The traditional way of processing single cores and green sand moulds as well as the gravity-driven stationary casting processes alone are no longer sufficient to meet the high demands on product quality. These days, core package systems and tilt casting technologies are state-of-the-art.
In die casting, there are limits to the freedom of design. Newest developments regarding salt cores suggest that employing lost cores also in the field of die casting will be more and more likely in the future.

The two most important environmentally relevant topics in the foundry industry are the use of energy and the further development of inorganic binding systems.

This presentation will take a closer look at the use of energy in foundries. The positive results of employing inorganic binding systems will be described in detail.

Another chapter of this presentation will discuss the links to Industry 4.0 and the state of implementation of the Industry 4.0-principles within the foundry industry.

The issues of frontloading and copy protection are only two of many aspects of the maximum cooperation between foundrymen and the design departments, which is absolutely necessary for keeping the technological competitive edge.

Badarinath Kalkunte¹, Vlastimil Kolda², Ole Köser¹, Jürgen Rückert³, Peter Ubl³, ¹Calcom ESI SA, ²Mecas ESI s.r.o, Czech Republic, ³PSE-A – EPFL

NOVEL MODELLING APPROACH TO VIRTUALLY TEST OF THE PART EJECTION IN DIE CASTING

Abstract

The capability to produce die casting components of high quality while at the same time reducing production cost and development times is a challenge the foundry industry faces today.

Casting simulation provides predictive evaluation tools to be applied on the entire casting process, including filling and solidification defects, and also advanced analysis like thermal stresses & part distortion to assist in making the appropriate decisions at an early stage of the manufacturing process. The casting sequence also involves upstream steps like gating and die design operations and downstream steps like trimming, heat treatment & machining operations that will determine the final dimensions and properties of the component.

This presentation provides an overview of latest developments, driven by the requirements from the industry with a focus on a recent work involving a novel modelling approach developed in collaboration between Stihl, a recognized leader of chainsaws and other outdoor equipment products, and ESI Group, experts in virtual product engineering, to simulate part ejection through computer analysis.

During the casting process the part contracts, “shrinking” onto the die cavity, and is held in place in the die by those contact pressures and forces developed during solidification. When the dies open, the part sticks usually onto the moving side of the die, and ejection pins are used to remove the part of the die. The number and placement of ejector pins are usually defined with high safety factors which may not only lead to more time & labour and creating them, but also affect the part quality (stress / dimensional control). Testing time for ejection is not typically available. Therefore, gaining an understanding of part ejection, location and number of required ejector pins can be very beneficial to the tool designer.

The approach uses a set of chained simulations. The first calculation simulates the casting process up to the ejection time using ESI’s ProCAST Casting Simulation software. The thermal and mechanical state of the casting and die are then transferred to ESI’s Virtual Performance Solution (VPS), where the dynamic ejection of the casting occurs. The full history of these simulations allows for understanding the filling, solidification and stress evolution of the casting in the dies during the casting process, and then identifies the forces required to eject the component from the tool and any potential distortion of the casting that may occur due to the ejection itself.

EFFECT OF SCANDIUM ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE ALUMINIUM CASTING ALLOY A356

Abstract

This article gives a short overview regarding the effects of scandium on the properties of aluminium casting alloy. The microstructure of the master alloy AlSc2 and the microstructures of the alloy A356 (AlSi7Mg0,3) in the as-cast condition and after T6 heat treatment are presented. Effects of small additions of Sc on the hardness of the alloy A356 were also evaluated.

Boris Čuk, Siapro d.o.o.

REDUCTION OF PRODUCTION COSTS VIA BENTONITE CLAY POWDER RECLAMATION (CASE STUDY)

Abstract

Foundries which utilize bentonite clay powders often face problems such as excessive sand quantities in circulation along with inadequate granular sand composition, i.e. sand that contains excessive fine fractions and inert substance proportions. There is a high correlation between fine fractions, inert substances in the sand and faulty castings, particularly in the form of sand inclusions. Maintaining a suitable sand mixture is possible via suitable refreshing. In turn, the quantity of system sand will surpass the available storage space and will need to be eliminated from the system and discarded at a landfill. An alternative to this is the introduction of a sand reclamation system.

In the study, we have shown that via suitable return sand reclamation, inert substance and fine fraction levels can be maintained and the sand consumption reduced. Silica sand consumption was decreased by just under 40%, and also resulted in the reduced consumption of bentonite clay and blacking. The reclamation investment should return within less than 2 years.