AMAG customer and market information - Austria Metall AG

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06 Interview “Process chain optimization for top quality and resource conservation” AluReport recently discussed the optimization of the entire process chain and its importance with regard to AMAG’s claim to premium supplier status with the company’s CTO, Helmut Kaufmann. In its mission statement, AMAG positions itself overall as a premium producer. To what extent does this also apply to AMAG casting? To a very great extent, because when we stress that the integrated production location in Ranshofen constitutes a special AMAG strength, this relates to the fact that one cannot overstate the importance of top quality working materials. The belief that deficits from the cast house can be compensated for during the rolling process constitutes a massive error, for a high-quality end product can only be created when it is produced from first class input material. In the case of AMAG casting customers this applies both to our own rolling mill, which processes ingots from AMAG casting, and to the many casting foundries that we supply with high-quality recycling cast alloys. However, before we go into detail may I first say something regarding the definition of a premium producer. At first glance, this term often only conjures up images of special products, but a premium producer must offer a great deal more. All products have to be manufactured in reproducible high quality. A premium supplier must demonstrate innovative strength, be constantly available as a development partner and advisor to customers and be able (and willing) to react quickly to customer requirements, conserve resources and keep environmental impact to a minimum. The optimization of these considerations has to cover the entire process chain and therefore the casting of cast and wrought alloys is an essential element in AMAG’s strategy. Let’s stay briefly with wrought alloys for ingots. What contributes to the premium claim in this connection? Fortunately one cannot purchase a “premium” label, one has to earn it. The three main contributory factors are employee competence, plant configuration and partnerships, by which I mean both internal and external. Alone the production of an extensive portfolio of cast and wrought alloys in AMAG casting’s two cast houses brings a great deal, e.g. in the recycling of diverse scrap for subsequent use in wrought alloys. Joint sampling and coordinated remelting enable us to employ scrap, which is an important resource, in an optimum manner. During alloy development we cooperate with scientific partners, and structural determination via casting parameters and homogenization takes place in the closest consultation with our only customer in the rolling ingot field, namely AMAG rolling GmbH. This means that input materials are optimized precisely in line with requirements. Plant configuration plays an equally significant role in success. We recently reported in detail concerning our developments in the field of melting and alloying technology. These have even extended to the development of our own rotors for melt degassing in order to provide cleaner melts. And naturally, we have developed EMC technology (electro magnetic casting) in the continuous casting area to an especially high standard. The structural quality available is globally unique and EMC also allows the casting of ingots with a high width to thickness ratio. In addition, the resultant high cooling speeds allow the realization of fine grains with microscopic precipitation. No one else is currently able to emulate this achievement and apart from the fine grain, we have virtually no segregation zones on the edge of the ingot. This constitutes a quality advantage, which particularly in the case of high-alloyed materials, comes into its own as edge fractures can be minimized. Our latest developments such as the superplastic, formable aluminium sheet material AMAG TopForm ® SPF also benefit from electro magnetic casting. All in all, with the new electro magnetic caster, which is presented in this edition of AluReport, we have increased our capacity and set a technological benchmark for the future.
What does the term premium producer mean in the recycling cast alloys area, especially with regard to the automotive segment? Our cast alloys are almost entirely produced from scrap, but happily in this case, the famous saying “garbage in, garbage out”, which derives from computer simulation and relates to entered data and result quality, does not apply. We employ scrap and obtain first class cast alloys as products, which we then supply to our customers in a variety of forms. Clients can choose between liquid metal, bi-part ingots, ingots from horizontal continuous casting, or sows. However, what I see as genuine progress is our ability to use the potential of recycling cast alloys to a better then ever degree. As a consequence of intensive research, we have succeeded in systematically defining and visualizing the links between alloy composition and profile of characteristics, which allows us to provide our clients with improved consulting regarding product-related, alloy selection. By means of the resulting, innovative “AMAG TopCast Alloy Designer” software tool, we are now in a position to systematically design the most frequently used recycling cast alloy, AlSi9Cu3, with regard to increased strength, high elongation and improved flow capacity, to optimize a possible downstream heat treatment appropriate to the material and thus open up new fields of application. Is the interplay between wrought and cast alloy know-how useful in this connection? Yes. We have combined our R&D activities in order to translate the know-how from both areas into new developments. As a result, we can even offer so-called nearprimary recycling cast alloys in the liquid metal sector, which only differ slightly from conventional primary alloys due to their iron content. Checks merely have to be carried out to establish whether or not in reality minimum iron content is needed for every application. I have my doubts. Look at the results from the work on the AlSi9Cu3 alloy and you will understand what I mean (please see the article on die casting on page 10 of this AluReport). Notable elongation can be achieved with iron content of 0.4 – 1.2%. Moreover, in the near-primary alloys, today we can even offer 0.2 per cent iron as the lower limit for alloys with high elongation levels. It is also undeniable that with these near-primary recycling cast alloys we have cost benefits and clear advantages with regard to energy and CO 2 balances. Therefore, with an investment in a new station for the filling of liquid transport vessels, we have opened the door to new applications. Indeed, we can now offer increased capacity for the liquid transport of both high potential, near-primary recycling cast alloys with a low iron content and wrought alloys.This pleases me greatly because without doubt we have thus established a new branch benchmark. Thank you for the interview. Answers to enquiries and demonstrations of the “AMAG TopCast Alloy Designer” are available at all times. Simply contact our Sales Department: casting@amag.at. Interview 07 AluReport
Page 1 and 2: AluReport 1/2010 AMAG customer and
Page 3 and 4: AMAG at the fairs in 2010 EUROGUSS
Page 5: AMAG’s 2009 financial year In spi
Page 9 and 10: By contrast, EMC technology (please
Page 11 and 12: Cu Cu 3.4 3.4 340 340 3.2 3.2 320 3
Page 13 and 14: Temper Grain size [μm] Elongation
Page 15 and 16: As a rule, bright materials or thos

AMAG customer and market information - Austria Metall AG

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