Implementation of Metal Casting Best Practices - EERE - U.S. ...

50% of its permanent mold casting operation, and 20% of the machine shop. The reason for this
incremental implementation was that it was only cost effective for the foundry to replace its
lighting once the ballast system failed. It did not make economic sense to replace the working
ballasts. The foundry also consolidated its vacuums in the permanent mold operation (from 3 to
2) as recommended during the assessment and thereby achieved energy savings. Finally, the
foundry installed a surge tank and a separate compressor in its machine shop as recommended.
The facility did not adopt the IAC recommendation to use carburized sand because the engineers
experienced problems integrating that into their operations. The foundry also did not understand
how that practice could add value to their castings, and thus abandoned the recommendation.
Although they did nit implement all of the IAC recommendations, management did consider
each to identify those that would be cost effective. Subsequent adoption of such cost-effective
recommendations has enabled the foundry to reap cost savings. The facility’s president noted
further that the assessment process itself motivated them to search for and implement other
energy-efficient and cost-saving projects. For example, they implemented a lean manufacturing
approach which involves a continual effort to reduce and eliminate waste. The facility has also
engaged a private consultant to improve the sand casting operation and to assist in integrating a
vacuum in that operation. Adding a vacuum has the potential to reduce internal scrap, improve
casting yield, and reduce the machining time for the facility’s sand castings.
DOE Research
Copper Foundry-1 participates extensively in Metal Casting R&D projects. It is a member of the
AFS Permanent Mold and Copper Committee, which provides technical oversight to a number of
Metal Casting R&D projects. Participation in the technical committee has allowed Copper
Foundry-1 to stay abreast of new developments occurring in the area of permanent mold and
copper castings. By keeping informed on such evolving developments, Copper Foundry-1 has
been able to implement the latest modeling techniques, grain refinement, and die material
improvements.
At present, Copper Foundry-1 does perform solidification modeling of its castings using the AFS
SolidCast and Finite Solutions which were developed with funding from ITP. The facility does
not model its routine castings because it has extensive experience with those. However, it models
all new jobs received to identify any potential defect issues before a casting goes to production.
Modeling allows the foundry to determine the proper rigging system before pouring a casting,
thereby avoiding costly trial-and-error tests.
Copper Foundry-1 has also gained substantial knowledge on grain refinement from R&D efforts
of the CMC and ITP partnership. The foundry uses copper-zirconium as a grain refiner based on
a recommendation by CANMET, a R&D partner organization with ITP. A grain refiner is
material that is added to the molten metal or alloy to produce a finer grain size when a casting
solidifies. 67 Having a finer grain size strengthens the casting and ensures that the casting meets
the customers’ requirements. The addition of grain refiner improves the mechanical properties of
the casting while also reducing the propensity for hot tears during solidification.
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