CPT International 04/2015

www.giesserei-verlag.de
December
2015
CASTING
PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY
INTERNATIONAL
Special:
North
America
4
Ensuring casting quality with
innovative feeder systems

DAMASCUS STEEL
Myth · History · Technology · Applications
SACHSE DAMASZENER STAHL 3. AUFLAGE
Manfred Sachse
DAMASZENER
STAHL
3. Auflage
Mythos
Geschichte
Technik
Anwendung
ISBN 978-3-514-00751-2
79.00 €
For personal members of Steel Institute VDEh:
71.10 €
Manfred Sachse · 3rd edition 2008
25.6 x 31.9 cm · 304 pages, mostly in colour,
photographs and technical drawings
28.11.2007 8:35:13 Uhr
This book is a comprehensive and in-depth description of Damascus steel and steelmaking. After the introduction
“Magic and myth of sabres” by Helmut Nickel, the author describes the development of the material and the history of
European, Middle Eastern and East-Asian forge-welded composite steels used in the design of blades and fire arms.
A special chapter is dedicated to the great variety of Oriental dasmascus steels (wootz steels). The author covers the topic
of historical and modern fakes and how they can be recognized as well as conservation and restoration of Damascus
steels. In one chapter he demonstrates that not only weapons but also decorative articles of daily use and jewellery can
be made of Damascus steel.
Distributed by Verlag Stahleisen GmbH
P. O. Box 105164 · 40042 Düsseldorf, Germany · Fon: +49 211 6707 - 561 · Fax: +49 211 6707- 547
e-mail: annette.engels@stahleisen.de · www.stahleisen.de

EDITORIAL K
On the way to a smart
foundry industry?
Last summer’s GIFA has been worked through and one’s technical expertise
brought up-to-date so, naturally, the next event for non-ferrous metalworkers
is already coming up: Euroguss in Nuremberg, Germany, from 12 - 14 January
2016. We take up the topic of die-casting with an introductory interview, a
topical report and a specialist article on a new, highly productive, vacuum
die-casting plant (P. 28). We also report on an innovative light-metal foundry
on the former East/West German border that has recently increased its capacities
(from P. 22). Other specialist articles in this issue will also interest die-casters:
we describe the potentials of aluminum materials (from P. 8) as well as
simulation techniques for die-casting processes (from P. 38).
Whether non-ferrous metalworkers or iron, steel and heavy metal casters: one
term has been making the rounds in recent years and is increasingly taking
shape: Industry 4.0, by means of which our production systems are to be largely
autonomously controlled and optimized in future. While the so-called
“smart foundry industry” will certainly require a generation to take root, there
are already pioneers in the sector: the Kurtz Ersa Group has opened a new
foundry in Hasloch, Germany, and implemented many of the elements of
“Foundry Industry 4.0” in this project. Find out more from P. 32.
In this year’s final issue of CASTING we resume the Country Specials that were
interrupted by the GIFA. We start with North America, whose major foundry
nation, the USA – producing over 12 million tonnes of castings – remains stable
in second place in the foundry world rankings. Learn more about metal
casting in the land of opportunity from P. 41.
The year is coming to an end so I say thank you for your interest and wish you
a happy new year wherever you are!
Until then: have a good read!
Robert Piterek, e-mail: robert.piterek@bdguss.de
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 3

K FEATURES
INTERVIEW
with Gerd Röders
“Die-casting offers outstanding options” 6
MATERIALS
Smetan, Herberg
Unleashing potentials at aluminium die-casting 8
COREMAKING/BINDERS
Pardo, Enrique
Effective solutions for marine bronze castings 18
PRESSURE DIE CASTING
Piterek, Robert
Producing future-oriented technologies with innovative
light construction 22
Stalder, Claude
The next step in vacuum die-casting 28
Cover-Photo:
GTP Schäfer GmbH
Benzstraße 15
41515 Grevenbroich
+49 (0) 2181 2 33 94-0
info@gtp-schaefer.de
www.gtp-schaefer.de
MELTING SHOP
Gaßel, Christina
Better energy values, fewer charging operations 30
AUTOMATION
Franken, Michael
Unique in the world 32
32
The German Kurtz Ersa Group produces both foundry machines and sophisticated castings. Earlier this year, the company opened its
“smart foundry” and has thus taken an important step towards Industry 4.0. (Photo: Klaus Bolz)

CASTING
4 | 2015
PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY
INTERNATIONAL
SIMULATION
Gänz, Julian
New simulation techniques for die-casting process 38
NORTH AMERICA SPECIAL
Wetzel, Shannon
US metalcasting industry at a Glance 42
Eman, Kitty
On track 44
Lange, Edgar
US foundry Bradken implements optical Measuring technology 48
K COLUMNS
Editorial 3
News in brief 51
Brochures 56
Fairs and congresses / Advertisers´ index 58
Preview of the next issue/Imprint 59
41
This edition’s Special focuses on North America – with reports on the US metal casting industry, the expansion of voestalpine Nortrak in
Illinois, and the introduction of optical measuring technology in the US steel foundry Bradken. (Photo: US Army)

K INTERVIEW
“Die-casting offers outstanding
options”
For many decades die-casting has been a successful industrial casting process in the series or
mass production of construction components. That is how it will stay in future too, assures us
Gerd Röders, Chairman of the Verband Deutscher Druckgießereien VDD (Association of German
Pressure Die Casters). We spoke to him in the run-up to the Euroguss fair (12-14 January 2016,
Nuremberg, Germany) about the lightweight design trend in automotive construction, innovative
production processes such as 3-D printing and the presentation program for the International
German Die Casting Congress
Gerd Röders, Chairman of the Verband Deutscher Druckgießereien VDD (Association of German Pressure Die Casters)
(Photo: Andreas Bednareck)
Mr. Röders, the automobile industry
– the die-casters’ largest customer in
Germany – is faced with major challenges
in connection with the reduction
of CO 2
emissions for new vehicles
enacted by the European Union.
By 2020 the aim is to set output at 95
g CO 2
/km for new automobiles. Lightweight
design and downsizing of engines,
in other words increasing efficiency
coupled with simultaneous
weight reduction, are the responses
of the automotive manufacturers to
this challenge. How does this development
effect the die-castings sector?
The development of ever new components
in die-casting is moving forward
rapidly. Be it in the case of structural
components, electric motor
components or smart components
for regulating conventional engines
– in all areas they are trying to make
use of the outstanding options offered
by die-casting. In this process,
the die-casters together with the machine
manufacturers, alloy suppliers
and downstream processors are shifting
the limits of our processes through
constant innovations. It is amazing
what innovative solutions and com-
6 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Figure 1: Sports car with die-cast structural components at Euroguss 2014 (Photo: NurembergMesse/Frank Boxler)
ponents are being produced in this
process, some of them will no doubt
win the much-coveted awards of the
Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie
GDA (German Aluminium Association)
and the Initiative Zink at the
next Euroguss, which are being presented
within the framework of the
die-casting competitions.
The hype surrounding 3-D printing
is currently on everyone’s lips and
has not failed to leave its mark on
the die-casting foundries either. The
Bundesministerium für Bildung und
Forschung (German Federal Ministry
of Education and Research) recently invited
interested parties to Bonn, Germany,
to take part in a technological
discussion on the theme. In future will
we stop casting and just be printing?
Apart from individualization through
additive production, the megatrend is
standardization. Here die-casting offers
major advantages: in just a few
seconds finished components are produced.
And using modern CAD/CAM
methods the tools too can be manufactured
within a short time. This means
that die-casting also continues to be an
advantageous process for large-volume
series production. But requirements on
surfaces can also be more effectively expressed
in cast form than in 3-D print.
On the other hand, 3-D print enables
higher flexibility. To what extent 3-D
printing can be competitive for major
series production through affordable
machinery, remains to be seen. In
my eyes, die-casting will remain just as
much in demand as 3-D print. I personally
regard these new technologies
as very exciting and I am sure that
they will quickly establish themselves.
But in addition to 3-D print, even in
100 years there will still be other production
processes, and with the advances
made by the castings industry,
in my eyes, die-casting will certainly be
one of them.
In January, the VDD is once again
staging the International German
Die Casting Congress at the Euroguss
fair in Nuremberg, Germany. The program
is not revealed yet. But would
you now let us know anyway whether
any exciting presentations are already
planned?
The 16th International German Die
Casting Congress is also aiming to reflect
the comprehensive range at Euroguss
on the theme of die-casting. That
means presentations covering the entire
die-casting process chain will be
on the agenda. In this connection,
the theme will for example be innovative
tempering concepts for die-casting
mold design. Several presentations will
also pick up the relative abstract theme
of Industry 4.0 and show how the socalled
Internet of Things can be specifically
implemented in the die-casting
foundries. Of course there will also
be exciting presentations on the material
and components development
themes. I am convinced that there will
be something interesting there for every
fair visitor.
Many thanks for the interview!
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 7

K MATERIALS
Author: Herbert Smetan, Smetan Engineering, Rehlingen-Siersburg
Unleashing potentials at aluminium
die-casting
The demands on ductility and fatigue strength of structural and chassis components are significantly
higher than with other parts produced using cold-chamber die-casting. The potential
available in the various aluminium foundry alloys is not exploited in real components. The author
attempts to do just that, both from the practical standpoint by examining the metallurgical aspects
of aluminium foundry alloys and the material requirements of a casting process
Independent of the ultimately successful
solutions towards future power
train systems in private cars, the
manufacturers of construction elements
made of aluminium die-castings
- which may in future dominate
the field in light-weight bodywork and
chassis parts – still find themselves facing
new challenges.
The demands on ductility and fatigue
strength of structural and chassis
components are significantly higher
than with other parts produced
using cold-chamber die-casting. At
the same time, inherent die-casting
problems are accepted both by the traditional
manufacturer and by the experienced
user of these components,
full in the knowledge that the potential
available in the various aluminium
foundry alloys is not exploited
in real components. Also, there
is a wide scatter in fracture strength,
yield strength, elongation and fatigue
strength values i.e. values which ultimately
determine process capability
are locally very different and usual-
The filling of the slot sleeve is
normally carried out using a ladle or
launder exposed to the open air and,
in traditional die-casting is given
little attention although it is an
essential step in the casting process.
Further, it is seldom that water and
oil-based lubricant or separating
liquids are used sparingly at that
stage (Photos: Benno Leinen)
8 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

ly extremely low. Even if the designer
is able to compensate, by applying additional
safety margins in dimensioning,
it is not difficult for competitive materials
and methods to offset the potential
weight advantage offered by aluminium.
In particular in the case of casting
methods, it should be questioned as to
what ultimately should be considered
as the inherent limitations. The author
attempts here to do just that, both from
the practical standpoint by examining
the metallurgical aspects of aluminium
foundry alloys and the material requirements
of a casting process.
Figure 1: What can be seen here, when the molten metal is indiscriminately
poured into a pouring basin or into the pouring cup of a gating system,
takes place in an almost identical manner inside the mold cavity during the
actual filling of the mold
Starting point
Since 1971 the author has been engaged
in various positions and capacities
as foundry and materials specialist
for suppliers of the global automotive
industry, including almost two decades
leading an international group
of aluminium foundries which specialise
exclusively in the production of
cylinder heads and crankcases. In that
period the basic question was how it
came about that, since the earliest days
of casting aluminium foundry alloys, it
could be accepted that the mechanical
properties exhibited by components
remained significantly behind the actual
potential of these extremely capable
but also expensive materials, and
that the values always exhibited considerable
scatter. Often, the more demanding
the alloy in question, the
greater is the discrepancy between the
values obtained and those that could
be reached – for which reason hardly
any differences can be found in actual
components. This situation is reflected
in the related standards and data
sheets. In contrast to ferrous casting
materials, this results in the users applying
safety margins that cannot be
justified in any way for such a modern,
light weight construction material as
aluminium and, consequently, limits
its wider use to a considerable degree.
Essentially, the following points must
be taken into consideration:
» In pure aluminium the shrinkage in
volume during solidification is 7 %
and in its alloys between 2.5 and
7 %. On the other hand in ferrous alloys,
depending on the carbon content
and graphite formation, this
amounts to only 0.6 – 3.2 %.
» In ferrous materials, because the
density is three times higher, the
effective pressure at the interface
which promotes infiltration of residual
melt into the crystallizing structure
is significantly higher than that
of the aluminium casting alloys.
» The tendency to form more tenacious
oxide skins and oxide films,
which often become dispersed
throughout the casting as folded
bundles representing detrimental interfaces
in the structure. This is very
pronounced in aluminium foundry
alloys and with few exceptions other
materials containing aluminium
as an additive - unique in industrial
casting.
» Another defect specific to aluminium
is the tendency for molten aluminium
to take up hydrogen and to
precipitate this out during solidification
mainly in the form of finely dispersed
spherical, gaseous porosity at
the grain boundaries and interfaces
of the eutectic phases.
The present day aluminium foundry
alloys are trusted to exhibit significant
reserves in properties to enable them
to be used for an ever increasing range
of new products. This in turn places
significantly increased material-specific
demands on these components.
Without question, successive, stepby-step
improvements both in the alloys
themselves and in the processing
have enabled improvements to be
achieved, but these are asymptotically
approaching a process-specific limit.
Basically, because of their notch-like
behaviour, non-metallic discontinuities
and material heterogeneity have
a very decisive influence on properties
under mechanical and thermal fatigue
load conditions. In that respect
the dispersed oxide impurities in the
matrix of a component are extremely
detrimental. Any, even the briefest,
interruption of the oxide skin on molten
aluminium during the complex
mold-filling process results in extremely
thin oxide films which become incorporated
in the cast structure as
folded bundles and usually have an extremely
negative effect on the mechanical
properties [1].
It is important to differentiate here,
on the one hand, between slowly
growing oxide skins that form mainly
on the surface of aluminium melts
in melting or holding furnaces and
can be incorporated in the component
as a result carelessness and, on
the other hand, oxide skins that form
during the mold filling process. The
first type are usually clusters of oxide
which are easy to recognise in the microstructure
and are usually conspicuous
during crack detection. The oxide
formed during mold filling on the other
hand can become dispersed during
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 9

K MATERIALS
Ejector
Die Half
Cavity
Gating
Biscuit
Vacuum
Parting Line
that process and are not detected using
classical destructive or non-destructive
testing – also not even by means of sophisticated
metallographic methods
of investigation. These dispersed oxide
films are hardly visible even to the
trained eye and can at best be detected
using the electron microscope.
Whereas macroscopic oxide inclusions
can be detected, classified as undesirable
and removed from the production
process, the dispersed, ultrafine
Washboard Vent
Stationary Die Half
Liquid Aluminium
Filling Slot
Shot Sleeve
Filling of Liquid Aluminium
by launder
by ladle
Plunger
Plunger Rod
Figure 2: Schematic representation of a die-casting unit with mold on a cold
chamber die-casting machine for aluminium foundry alloys (Figures: Smetan
Engineering)
Filling of Liquid Aluminium
by launder
by ladle
Plunger
gaseous, non-metallic and
inter-metallic Impurities
Figure 3: Schematic representation of the filling of molten aluminium alloys
into the shot sleeve of a cold chamber die-casting machine
oxides which are more hidden are the
source of extensive damage. In the distant
past, and repeatedly since then, the
author showed interest in the service
life of cutting tools employed for machining
aluminium wheels produced
using low pressure die-casting and, as
a rule, excellent mold filling. Thereby,
the cutting tool used to machine
wheels that had been cast from metal
melted in a medium frequency induction
furnace exhibited at most only a
tenth of the service life of those tools
machining wheels from metal that had
been melted in a resistance heated crucible
furnace. The effect responsible for
that was the same as with the filling of
the mold viz., the intensive movement
of the metal in the induction furnace
breaks up the oxide films on the surface
of the melt and stirs in the continuously,
newly forming oxide films. As a
result, due to their very similar density,
these oxide films become dispersed
throughout the molten metal and cannot
not be removed by the normal purification
processes used by die-casting
foundries. This meant that the trump
card of aluminium viz., its ability to
provide protection against corrosion
thanks to an impermeable oxide layer,
became its Achilles’ heel when processed
in the molten state.
Regardless of the nature of a discontinuity
or heterogeneity in the structure
of an actual component, their effect
is defined basically by factors of
shape, length and size as well as inherent
strength in relation to the parent
metal. In the case of alternating thermal
stresses, the difference in coefficients
of thermal expansion will also
play a role.
Also the specific thermal conductivity
of the material will have an additional
effect on the resistance to thermal
shock, because this causes a change in
the temperature gradient (this is mentioned
here only for sake of completeness).
In this respect the characteristic
values for dynamic loading react much
more to discontinuities than do the
values for straightforward static loading.
And, it is exactly these dynamic
loading values that are relevant for construction
design purposes. Basically, it
should be assumed that the strength of
a material is usually influenced more
by its discontinuities than by the characteristics
of its matrix, for which reason
it is not helpful to introduce new
alloys as long as we are far from being
able to exploit the potential of the existing
alloys. Even though attempts are
made for various applications to compensate
for the inherent disadvantages
via high purity alloys, that should be
viewed simply for reasons of cost only
as an emergency solution.
10 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Stationary Die Half
Vacuum-
Valve
Ejector Die Half
Stationary Die Platen
Plunger
Gating
Shot Sleeve
Valve
Feed Tube
Vacuum-Pump
Pouring Furnace
Vacuum-Tank
Figure 4: Principle of the Vacural-Process [6] (Figure: Oskar Frech GmbH
& Co. KG)
LASER Pyrometer
LASER Level Control
Plunger
Figure 5a: Principle of a process-stable docking geometry adapted from low-
-pressure die-casting for joining the feed tube to the shot sleeve of a diecast
ing machine (Figures: Smetan Engineering)
Temperature Control.
Smart. Reliable.
In the past the author has always
taken samples from continuously casting
ingots to illustrate the potential of
an aluminium foundry alloy with respect
to conventional values i.e. fracture
strength, yield strength, elongation
and flexural fatigue strength, in
each case in comparison with the values
used to compare industrial casting
methods. Admittedly this is a demanding
comparison and is stricter than the
more comparative measurement of a
quality index normally used to judge
casting methods. Separately cast test
bars, still widely used for reference purposes,
should in the author`s opinion,
be employed only to compare the quality
of a melt. These measurements have,
therefore, nothing to do with real components,
the properties of which are
mostly influenced by process effects.
Continuously cast ingots exhibit not
only an optimally solidified, uniform
structure, but also the ideal case with
respect to inclusion of non-metallic impurities.
For that reason, when continuously
casting foil stock ingots, the oxide
particles in the launder are frequently
measured in real time using the Limca
CM-Method (Liquid Metal Cleanli-
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Get more out of your production
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Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 11
www.regloplas.com

K MATERIALS
gaseous N 2
LASER Pyrometer
ness Analyzer) by ABB [2], to achieve a
melt free of dispersed oxides. With similar
goals in mind, the PoDFA-Method
(Inclusion Identification and Quantification
Analysis) from ABB [2] is used
in leading jobbing foundries for quantitative
assessment of oxide fines in
melts. By re-melting components, the
so called Cold PoDFA-Method can also
be used to judge the quality of components
by assessing the amount of
fine, dispersed oxide present. The fact
that this method is hardly ever used in
foundries can be taken as an indication
of the low priority granted to the detection
of fine oxide inclusions in industrial
practice.
Samples from actual components,
produced using a dynamic tilt casting
method, were taken and used to measure
static strength values at room temperature
and fatigue strength values at
LASER Level Control
Plunger
Outlet of gaseous N 2
Level of Liquid Aluminium
at Holding Point
Figure 5b: Between casting cycles, the shot sleeve is flooded with gaseous nitrogen
and the molten aluminium maintained just below the upper end of
the feed tube
150°C using various aluminium foundry
alloys in different heat treated conditions.
Due to their exemplary, low content
of dispersed oxide films, the values
obtained significantly exceeded the values
regarded today as benchmarks for
these alloys. The principles involved
here are described in detail by the author
elsewhere [3] [4] and in Smetan engineering
Innovations Volume 1.
In die-casting, provided they are not
dragged in with the molten aluminium,
these dispersed oxide films are created
during the actual mold filling, especially
during ladling. Even if the gating system
for gravity die-casting is designed
according to the parameters proposed
by Friedrich Nielsen [5], oxide films can
be dispersed in particular by turbulence
in the pouring basin or at changes in direction
at the sprue – runner transition
and thereafter. However, also in the interior
of the mold cavity, complex flow
patterns cause oxide films to be formed
and stirred into the molten metal [1]. In
dynamic tilt casting, freshly formed oxide
films can be dispersed if the molten
metal is poured indiscriminately from a
ladle into the casting basin (see Fig. 1).
When this happens, these oxide films
become uniformly dispersed throughout
the component. This means that,
if a melt is already highly contaminated
with fine, dispersed oxide films in
the casting basin, the significance of
the actual mold filling process is in fact
less because, as has been demonstrated
in trials by the author, the disadvantageous
effect on the values of the material
in question increases exponentially
already from an extremely low concentration
of such oxide particles.
If such grave differences, in particular
in fatigue strength and ductility,
arise in gravity die-casting components
due to process-specific differences in
dispersed oxide films simply as a result
of different gating systems, all the more
must be their effect in pressure die-casting.
In general the fatigue strength
and ductility values obtained by high
pressure die-casting lie significantly
lower than those obtained by gravity
die-casting and take advantage, therefore,
to a much smaller degree of the
potential in the corresponding aluminium
foundry alloys.
Specific starting points
In the currently dominating derivatives
of the pressure die-casting method
used for aluminium and its alloys
(Fig. 2), a great deal of effort is made
to compensate for the symptoms of the
more or less inherent disadvantages of
very fast filling of the mold cavity.
In this connection customised standard
electronic real-time controls are
Residual oxygen content
in mold cavities
Evacuation level of 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
mold cavity in %
O 2
without N 2
- 21 19 17 15 13 11 8 6 4 2 0
Flushing in %
O 2
with
N 2
-Flushing in %
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Table 1: Residual oxygen content in mold cavities as a function of different levels of vacuum, with and without
flushing with nitrogen
12 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

employed to exercise a positive influence
on the millisecond filling of the
mold cavity.
Also, using the simulation methods
available today, this filling process
is optimized in such a way that both
the gating system and the systems for
venting the cavity are designed and
positioned in the best possible manner.
Further, the mold cavity is very often
connected to a vacuum system
and, depending on the air-tightness,
a larger or smaller negative pressure is
formed before the actual filling of the
cavity. As the possible negative pressure
is, however, still far from a technical
vacuum, it can be assumed that
the residual oxygen in the cavity is sufficient
to allow oxides to be formed almost
unhindered. Experience in vacuum
metallurgy supports this. The
negative pressure created reduces only
the volume of gases trapped by the turbulent
filling process (see Table 1).
Basically, however, it must be assumed
that most of the dispersed oxide
films are formed already at the
stage of filling the aluminium into
the shot sleeve (Fig. 3). This filling is
normally carried out using a ladle or
launder exposed to the open air and,
in traditional die-casting with the exception
of the accuracy of the quantity
of metal fed to the shot sleeve, is given
little attention although it is an essential
step in the casting process. Further,
it is seldom that water and oil-based lubricant
or separating liquids are used
sparingly at that stage, with the result
that – besides a dispersion of oxides –
a considerable amount of hydrogen
is absorbed and amorphous carbon is
dispersed too (see picture on page 8).
For that reason, the focus of the proposal
made by the author lies especially
on this first process step.
gaseous N 2
gaseous N 2 towards die cavity
LASER Pyrometer
LASER Level Control
Feed Tube
Stroke
Plunger
Level of Liquid Aluminium
at Holding Point
Figure 5c: At the start of the casting cycle the shot sleeve is flushed further
with gaseous nitrogen and the feed tube docked onto the shot sleeve, with
the result that the pre-heated nitrogen is then mainly passed through the
mold cavity
gaseous N 2
gaseous N 2 towards die cavity
LASER Pyrometer
Aluminium Alloy
LASER Level Control
Plunger
Filling of
Liquid Aluminium
Figure 5d: The metal bath is raised in a controlled manner out of the feed
tube, resulting in low-turbulence filling of the shot sleeve. As a result of convection,
the metal in the shot sleeve remains at a constant high temperature
Proposal for avoiding dispersed
oxide films in aluminium
pressure die-casting
In the past various proposals have been
made to reduce or eliminate this urgent
problem by optimizing the feed of metal
into the shot sleeve from above, or
by filling the shot sleeve from below.
Whereas even coverage with a protective
gas during optimized, low-turbulence
feed of metal from above is able
to solve the problem of oxide formation
only to a limited degree, the filling
from below by means of a feed tube
very often raises concerns from the
point of machine design. The author
feels, however, that these approaches
could at least point to a method that
is in the interest of all die-casters producing
ductile or mechanically highly
stressed components with a certain
amount of safety relevance. Various
solutions to filling the shot sleeve
from below using a feed tube can be
found for conventional cold chamber
die-casting methods and for vertical
squeeze casting machines in the rel-
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 13

K MATERIALS
evant technical literature. To date no
other solution of significant industrial
consequence exists except the company-specific
Vacural-Process, developed
and patented by Müller Weingarten
(now Oskar Frech GmbH) and VAW Aluminium
AG (now Aleris) [6]. In the
Vacural-Process, the evacuation of
the cavity and the shot sleeve is maintained
throughout the whole of the filling
process.
gaseous N 2
gaseous N 2 towards die cavity
Aluminium Alloy
LASER Pyrometer
As a result of this vacuum, the required
amount of metal is sucked via
a feed tube out of the holding furnace
into the shot sleeve, and the air in the
cavity as well as the gases arising due
to contact between the melt and separating
fluids with the cavity wall are
drawn off (Fig. 4). The amount of gases
trapped in castings made using this
method is only a fraction of that experienced
with conventionally cast parts.
LASER Level Control
Plunger Plunger Stroke Plunger Rod
Level of Liquid Aluminium
Back to Holding Point
Figure 5e: As soon as the plunger passes over the filling opening of the shot
sleeve, the level of the molten metal in the feed tube is again lowered to the
holding position
Vacuum
Aluminium Alloy
Spraying of Graphite
LASER Pyrometer
Plunger
LASER Level Control
Plunger Stroke
Feed Tube
Stroke
Plunger Rod
Figure 5f: Until the plunger has passed the upper opening in the shot sleeve,
the feed tube is lowered to the holding position. At the same time, the supply
of nitrogen is stopped and the vacuum activated in the mold.
The surfaces at the interface between the feed tube and the shot sleeve can
be sprayed with a thin layer of graphite emulsion
Also the smaller amount of pre-solidification
in the shot sleeve can be regarded
as quality relevant.
On the one hand, however, filling
from below via a feed tube by evacuating
the mold cavity and shot
sleeve depends very heavily on the
air-tightness of the parting lines between
the die halves and between
the die and core sliders. On the other
hand, it must be kept in mind that,
to be able to suck aluminium into
the shot sleeve a negative pressure
of only 300hPa is sufficient. This is
equivalent to an absolute pressure in
the mold cavity of around 700 hPa,
which is still far removed from a technical
vacuum. As a result, the mold
cavity and the shot sleeve still contain
15 Vol-% O 2
, which is sufficient to
form dispersed oxide films. Only a
second evacuation step e.g. in the
course of further movement of the
plunger, would improve these conditions.
Likewise, however, components
produced experimentally via shot
sleeve filling from below using low
pressure, have been shown to exhibit
much improved material properties.
This has led to a search for solutions
in which the shot sleeve is filled from
below independent of evacuation
of the mold cavity. As a result, various
comparative studies have shown
that components made by filling the
mold cavity from below, combined
with stronger evacuation of the cavity,
produced the lowest amount of
fine porosity in the weld seam made
using Laser welding. At the same time
components manufactured this way
exhibit much higher material properties,
in particular elongation values,
than those achieved using conventional
high-pressure die-casting [7].
As before, it must be assumed that
the amounts of residual oxygen in the
mold cavity and shot sleeve are sufficient
to cause oxidation of the surface
of the molten aluminium alloy
which continually breaks up during
filling of the die cavity. Because of
the turbulence during high-pressure
die-cast-specific filling of the mold
cavity, it must be assumed that the
melt takes up highly dispersed, fili-
14 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

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K MATERIALS
Vacuum
Aluminium
Alloy
LASER Pyrometer
Plunger
Spraying of Graphite
LASER Level Control
Injection
Plunger Rod
Figure 5g: The plunger is actuated according to a pre-set programme to
implement the actual filling of the mold cavity. The surfaces at the interface
between the feed tube and the shot sleeve can still be sprayed with a thin
layer of graphite emulsion
Pouring
Furnace Stroke
Plunger
Open for
Inspection
Moving Furnace
for Inspection
Figure 5h: For maintenance and inspection purposes the shot sleeve can be
opened and the holding furnace withdrawn under the actual shot sleeve
unit.
gree oxide films and, de facto binds
up the total amount of residual oxygen
in the cavity in the form of ultra-fine
oxide films that are then dispersed
throughout the casting. The
Pore-Free Die-Casting-Process, patented
already in 1968, exploited exactly
this situation by flooding the
mold cavity with gaseous oxygen
and as a result, creating a high vacuum
chemically during the actual filling
of the mold [8].
From the perspective of experienced
die-casting experts, the problem
of filling the shot sleeve from
below is that the shock waves resulting
from actual mold filling shot are
transmitted via the shot sleeve to the
feed tube, which makes it difficult to
ensure air-tightness in a process-reliable
manner for a period of time. Often,
design-specific reasons are presented
to explain why this approach
has not been able to achieve industrialization.
As a rule, the improvements
in the various process steps of
conventional mold filling mentioned
at the outset here have been able to
keep up with the steadily increasing
demands of the user, which is why
the pressure for innovation in that
area has been bearable up to now.
Assuming that future applications
of die-cast components will
increase demands even further, the
author proposes an approach to solving
these problems by transferring
experience from proven systems in
the field of low-pressure die-casting
to high-pressure die-casting. In that
connection, already in the 1970s, the
author developed a rapid change system
for process-capable coupling of
low-pressure molds to low-pressure
die-casting furnaces (Fig. 5a). In that
case the ceramic feed tube is attached
outside the low pressure die-casting
furnace by means of a compression
seal fitting in a tool steel tube featuring
a spherical geometry at the
contact face to the die. This convex
spherical surface at the die face is accommodated
by a concave spherical
surface which exhibits a slightly larger
radius. As a result, this connection
is self-centering within a generous
tolerance range and provides a relatively
robust seal, even when there are
axial deviations in angle, on a sealing
face that only requires a thin layer of
graphite emulsion to be applied regularly.
This way it is possible, during
each cycle of the die-casting machine,
to disconnect the feed tube from the
shot sleeve mechanically by way of a
short-stroke cylinder, which prevents
the feed tube from suffering the shock
waves produced in the system on casting.
If the design details in the region
of the shot sleeve unit of a die-casting
machine prevent direct access
with a telescopic feed tube, then this
problem could be solved by means
of a shortened or inclined feed tube.
Also, modern insulation materials offer
the possibility of employing an intermediate
chamber, the net content
of which is the amount of metal required
for one individual casting.
16 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Ejector
Die Half
Cavity
Gating
Biscuit
Parting Line
Liquid Aluminium
Vacuum
Feed Tube
Figure 6: Schematic representation of a high-pressure die-casting unit with
mold on a cold chamber high-pressure die-casting machine for casting aluminium
foundry alloys, designed for low pressure filling of the shot sleeve and
nitrogen gas flushing of the cavity
Washboard Vent
Stationary Die Half
gaseous N 2
LASER Pyrometer
LASER Level Control
Plunger
Plunger Rod
Shot Sleeve
Telescopic Feed Tube Stroke
Filling of Liquid Metall
by Feed Tube
Low Pressure Furnace
In this application the previous filling
opening of the shot sleeve can be
fitted with a Laser measurement system
to measure the level of metal and
a Laser pyrometer to measure the temperature
of the metal, which enable
further important parameters to be
used very precisely to control the process
(Fig. 5b). As the shot sleeve represents
a hermetically sealed system,
gaseous nitrogen can be introduced
into the shot sleeve as a protective medium,
which is then fed into the mold
during closing, thus expelling the air
from the whole of the mold cavity.
Taking the pressure-control which
is employed as standard in low-pressure
die-casting, the level of the bath
is maintained just below the top of the
feed tube between each casting cycle.
The feed tube is then docked onto the
shot sleeve by means of a short extension
of the telescope immediately prior
to casting (Fig. 5c).
Figures 5d to g show the sequence of
mold filling steps as part of the casting
cycle. The docking of the feed tube to
the shot sleeve takes place at the same
time as the closing of the mold; the
filling of the shot sleeve starts from
step 5d, whereby both the level and
temperature of the metal can be measured
very exactly as quality determining
factors by means of Laser
devices, and also uses for control purposes.
As soon as the set level of metal
is reached, the plunger passes over
the lower filling opening (Fig. 5e). As
soon as this happens, the level of the
metal in the feed tube can be lowered,
and subsequently the feed tube itself
as well, while the plunger advances
slowly. As soon as the feed tube has
been uncoupled, the ring-shaped sealing
face can be sprayed with graphite
emulsion on both sides. This is sufficient
to keep these components functioning
properly within two maintenance
cycles (Fig. 5f). The actual shot
takes place only at the moment after
the feed tube has been detached
from the shot sleeve (Fig. 5g). As the
steps shown normally take place parallel
to the movement of the plunger,
the entire process takes place more or
less in a time-independent manner, as
with conventional filling of the shot
sleeve. For maintenance and inspection
purposes, the holding furnace
can be lowered further and moved
away from below the shot unit. At
the same time the shot sleeve may
be opened and viewed from above
for inspection purposes (Fig. 5h). Figure
6 shows the basic make up of a
high-pressure die-casting unit, which
is designed with maximum purity of
metal in mind without extending the
cycle time and without incurring additional
production costs.
The author is convinced this concept
is ideally suited to producing
high standard components of exceptional
metal quality. Combined with
proven vacuum technology, die tempering
and water-free spraying methods,
it should ultimately be possible to
achieve exceptionally high component
properties. At the same time, however,
the author knows that success or failure
of a project never depends only on
a feasible idea, no matter how attractive
these may seem at first glance. Success
has always been made up of countless
small steps in the form of detailed,
reliable solutions which make it possible
to arrive at an overall solution.
In that respect the author has always
started with the ideal final solution in
mind, and estimated the costs and advantages
of the solution. Thereby, it
must be accepted as realistic that, qualitative
advantages only lead to technology-based,
competitive advantages
in the market place. Taking costs into
account, it must be assumed that innovative
products can at best only delay
the drop in prices in the automotive
supply industry, but never halt or
turn that around.
The analysis has clearly shown that,
in the present case, success is worth
fighting for. Convinced that this will
ultimately lead to a further successful
step forward in aluminium foundry
technology, the author will in the
coming months intensively devote his
attention to experimental work in this
field with a view to realizing this process
innovation on an industrial scale.
www.smetan-engineering.com
Dipl.-Ing. Herbert Smetan, Smetan engineering
GmbH, Siersburg, Germany
References:
www.cpt-international.com
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 17

K COREMAKING / BINDERS
To ensure that castings made of bronze are free of casting defects, it is particularly important, that all specifications
during production are designated and followed precisely (Photos: Foseco)
Author: Enrique Pardo, Technical Manager Iberia, Foseco Spain, Izurza, Spain
Effective solutions for marine
bronze castings
Bronze castings for marine applications are high-integrity components and subject to strict quality
control and assurance procedures. To ensure sound castings, strict procedures for manufacturing
and preparing the mold, pouring the molten metal and feeding of the casting are necessary
to enable solidification without inclusion defects or shrinkage
The majority of marine bronze components
are fully machined, adding
significant cost to the process, therefore
any defects identified during or
after-machining that result in a scrap
casting have incurred significant costs
both in terms of the raw material value
and the processing costs both in the
foundry and in the machine shop and
a cost to client in terms of missed deliver
dates and the on-costs that will
be incurred further down the process.
Therefore it is essential that within all
parts of the process the correct raw
material choices are made and these
decisions are critical to the successful
and repeatable production of defect
free castings and must be combined
with the correctly applied application,
technical and manufacturing process
knowledge. Fundilusa is a company located
in Vilanova de Cerveira in Portugal,
its main focus is on the production
of bronze components for marine
applications such as propellers, blades
and hubs (Figure 1). It is responsible for
the casting, machining and assembly
of the components and can produce individual
cast components of up to 15 t.
Mold manufacture
For the production of molds and cores
an inorganic binder system has been
chosen (Carsil with Veloset hardeners),
which provides minimal gas
evolution on casting and is free from
18 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Figure 1: Strict quality control of high integrity castings
phenol, formaldehyde and other components
considered harmful to health.
As an environmentally aware binder
system, it is a further development of a
traditional sodium silicate, ester cured
system, but with improved bench-life
to strip-time ratio and superior breakdown
after casting. Equally important
is the capability of the system to support
reclamation of the bonded sand
at levels in the region of 80 %, which
can subsequently be re-used for the
production of molds and cores without
detriment to overall performance
(Figure 2). To reclaim the used sand,
Fundilusa has installed a mechanical
scrubbing/attrition system, the sand is
pre-heated to approximately 200 °C to
ensure the binder is brittle to allowing
its easier removal from the individual
sand grains. The tendency for bronze
alloys to entrap gases during the casting
process and generate pin-holes
during solidification is well known; it
is therefore essential to maintain precise
control of the reclaimed sand quality.
This process control is coordinated
between Fundilusa and Foseco, with
weekly testing of reclaimed sand samples
to determine ongoing actions to
maintain the sand quality within strict
control limits (Figure 3).
Inclusion reduction
When designing bronze castings for
marine applications, significant cost
benefits can be achieved by minimizing
surface inclusions and irregularities
to allow for minimal machining
allowances. These surface inclusions
can be the result of sand particles eroded
from the mold face, ingates or running
system, metal slags within the
molten metal and gas entrapment in
the liquid metal resulting in pin holes
or blow holes. By consideration of the
Figure 2: 80 % reclaimed sand – 20 % new silica sand for the production of
perfect molds
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 19

K COREMAKING / BINDERS
Figure 3: Precision control of reclaimed
& new silica sands to prevent
mold erosion and dimensional inaccuracy
Figure 4: Melt treated with specially
designed Foseco fluxes to ensure
high cleanliness
metal quality, mold design and its
preparation these defects can be reduced
significantly and eliminated.
Melt cleanliness
The quality of the metal being poured
into the mold is critical to the final
casting integrity, therefore the quality
control of incoming raw materials
is essential as is the subsequent processing
of these materials. The melting
of copper-based alloys presents
special problems in that hydrogen
and oxygen are readily dissolved in
the melt and can subsequently combine
to form water vapour which creates
porosity in the casting. Without
the presence of oxygen, hydrogen
alone may also cause pin-hole defects.
The levels of residual hydrogen is reduced
to below 1ppm through the use
of degassing units (FDU) with high efficiency
rotor designs. The FDU is an
automated, environmentally-friendly
melt treatment system for aluminium
and copper-based alloys and uses
patented rotors (XSR) to create an innovative
pumping action that is key to
its performance and delivers high levels
of degassing and cleaning within a
short timeframe, improving productivity
and reducing heat loss and energy
consumption. Different sized units
make it applicable for all bath, furnace
and ladle sizes. The pumping action
brings the melt into the rotor to ensure
excellent contact with the inert
gas. The huge number of very small inert
gas bubbles created will float to the
surface, taking the hydrogen with it
resulting in a significant reduction in
overall hydrogen content as well as removing
oxides, which are also carried
to the surface. Optimized metal cleanliness
is obtained using additions of specially
designed fluxes for bronze alloys
(Albral, Elektro, Deox Tubes and Slax
(Figure 4).
Mold filling and metal flow control
The running system design is critical
to ensuring a non-turbulent flow of
Figure 5: Stelex PrO and Sedex filters
reduce inclusions and eliminate metal
turbulence
metal into the mold cavity to avoid
oxidation reactions and erosion. To
ensure the incoming metal is both
inclusion free and to eliminate turbulence;
ceramic foam filters (Sedex or
Stelex PrO) are installed in the running
system. The correct application
and filter support methods are
advised by Foseco to eliminate any
potential risk of breakage and ensure
maximum benefits are achieved
(Figure 5). The foundry has also replaced
sand sprues, runners and ingates
that can easily be the source
of sand inclusions through erosion
with specially manufactured systems
(Kalmin 70 A) that are highly resistant
to erosion and offer the benefit over
traditional ceramic materials of being
highly insulating and hence avoiding
the temperature loss observed with
other products (Figure 6). Similar materials
are used for the feeding sleeves
(Kalmin 700), with the high insulation
value allowing the feed metal to
stay liquid longer, reducing the size
of feeders required with the associated
reduction in the requirements for
liquid metal and post-casting operations
to remove and re-work the feeding
area. The performance of these
sleeves is complemented by the use
of highly exothermic (Termorit PW)
or insulating topping compounds.
Metal/Mold Interactions
Refractory mold coatings are used to
improve surface finish through applying
a very fine refractory material to
the mold surface, additionally this inert
layer prevents adverse interaction
between the molten metal and the
mold’s sand and binder components.
The coating also provides a barrier to
prevent gases evolved from the thermal
decomposition of the mold entering
the liquid metal and potentially
creating pin holes on solidification.
The coating applied at Fundilusa (Teno
Coating ZBBP) contains a zircon refractory
for ultimate protection and has a
very low gas evolution to ensure it does
not contribute to gas defects.
Conclusion
It is only through consideration of
the whole process that effective solu-
20 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

tions can be provided that combine
together to provide optimized and
cost effective casting production. In
the case described the focus is on the
elimination of surface defects that require
an increased machining tolerance,
resulting in increased costs both
in terms of casting yield and machine
tooling and process time. However the
problems cannot be addressed in isolation
as singularly they do not solve
the problem, for example good coating
practice does not eliminate inclusions
from slag related defects. Addressing
the true need of the customer
requires an approach that focuses on
the whole foundry process rather
than on the performance of individual
products.
www.foseco.com
Figure 6: Insulated sprues, runners and ingates create a highly erosion
resistant running system
CAN-ENG
FURNACES
INTERNATIONAL
LIMITED
GLOBAL EXPERT
THERMAL PROCESSING SOLUTIONS FOR
HIGH PRESSURE DIE CASTINGS (HPDC) AND
ALUMINUM STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS
CAN-ENG TECHNOLOGY
Maintains Dimensional Stability • Improves Mechanical Properties
CAN-ENG FURNACES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED is the industry leader in the development of automated
heat treating systems for the processing of HPDC and light-weight aluminum structural components.
For an innovative response to your design challenges, email Tim Donofrio at: tdonofrio@can-eng.com to
learn about CAN-ENG’s latest advances in energy saving technology, material handling and automations.
VISIT US AT EUROGUSS 2016, 12-14 JANUARY 2016
TO LEARN MORE. STAND 7-761
PO Box 235, Niagara Falls, NY 14302-0235 | www.can-eng.com | T. +1 905.356.1327 | F : +1 905.356.1817
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 21

K PRESSURE DIE CASTING
ae Works Manager Klaus Reinbold and CP+T Editor Robert Piterek at the building site of the new production hall in
Gerstungen (Photo: Andreas Bednareck)
Author: Robert Piterek, German Foundry Association, Düsseldorf
Producing future-oriented
technologies with innovative
light construction
With its capacity expansion and an order book that is well filled until 2018, the ae group –
headquartered in Gerstungen in the German federal state of Thuringia – is looking forward to a
successful new beginning after a lean period lasting several years. Work in the new production
hall started in April 2015
The view for visitors looking from
one side of the new 10,000 m² production
hall to the other stretches farther
than the length of a football pitch.
Up to 20 new pressure die-casting machines
with clamping forces of from
1200 to 2700 t – from producers Oskar
Frech in Schorndorf and Idra (Travagliato,
Italy) – commenced operation in
April 2015.
Before production could start in the
new hall, however, it was necessary to
implement infrastructural prerequisites
such as air supply and extraction;
the provision of cooling water, electrical
energy, compressed air, and nitrogen;
as well as the foundations. In
addition to the casting cells with the
machines and industrial robots, there
are now stores of aluminum ingots at
the back of the hall and casting and
cutting tools for the machines in the
middle part, while the front is used for
repairing tools. Near the passage from
the new to the old hall a new smelting
shop, with a capacity of about 20 t per
day, has been set up to supplement the
four existing gas-fired shaft melting
furnaces from Strikowestofen (Gummersbach,
Germany), Støtek (Vojens,
Denmark), and Foundry4 Thermdos
GmbH (Hochheim am Main, Germany).
The ae works in Gerstungen now
has a considerable melting capacity,
amounting to almost 100 t a day. Forklift
trucks with transport ladles – for
22 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

The ae group’s Sole Director Klaus
Eichler (right) with the new chairman
of the board Dr. Michael Militzer in
front of the works grounds in Gerstungen
(Photo: René Dupont)
Die-casting plant in the old hall: The furnaces were renovated with new linings
and maintenance spraying (Photos: Andreas Bednareck)
safety reasons announcing their presence
long in advance by shining a cone
of blue light onto the floor, as is usual
in Gerstungen – commute backwards
and forwards between the new and the
old halls to supply the plants.
The new works area and the tasks
it takes will offer 140 additional employees
a new professional future until
2018: new machine operators, specialist
maintenance staff, mechatronics technicians,
quality controllers and project
managers already control production
in the hall with its two 40-t overhead
cranes, while new sales staff in the administrative
wing are responsible for
marketing and delivery of the castings.
The workforce at the site will thus rise to
over 500 in the next two years.
About 12 million euros were invested
in building the hall and roughly
53 million euros have been spent on the
die-casting and processing machines to
make this vision a reality. The total cost
of the capacity expansion thus adds up
to an impressive 65 million euros.
Foundry alongside Germany’s
‘Green Strip’
Change of scene to the construction
works in early 2015: only the external
An ae employee processes castings
façade, a few foundation trenches with
reinforced concrete wire mesh, and the
partially covered roof of the new works
hall can be seen. Some way away, beyond
a half-finished outer wall, one can
see a relic from the past: an old East German
border tower in a dilapidated condition
25 years after reunification – located
on the edge of Germany’s ‘Green
Strip’, the 1,400 km green band that follows
the path of the former border between
East and West Germany. Behind
it one can see the residential houses
that already belong to the German federal
state of Hessen. A view to the west
– now without barbed wire as during
the Cold War. “For us here, the old border
is blurred, not just because we drive
across it every day but also because,
particularly now, we work very closely
with our colleagues in Nentershausen
in Hessen,” explains Klaus Reinbold,
managing director at the ae group’s site
in Gerstungen. The close proximity to
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 23

K PRESSURE DIE CASTING
Bearing blocks for wheel suspensions
on a processing belt
Transmission housings on a transport
hanger
Industrial robots provide support in many areas of the works
Nentershausen (almost 15 km away)
where, as in Gerstungen, components
are cast and worked, is one of the reasons
why casters from both states work
in Gerstungen. The shortage of specialists
in Germany is, however, also a concern
for Works Manager Reinbold and
ae Director Klaus Eichler: “Here, too,
foundry expertise is not unlimitedly
available on the market,” acknowledges
Eichler. The company trains its own
staff and, when necessary, recruits specialists
from the labor market. In order
not to lose touch with the up-andcoming
generation of engineers, the ae
group is also a member of the support
association at Kassel University, where
the specialist subject of Foundry Technology
has been offered for almost two
years under the leadership of Prof. Martin
Fehlbier. About 40 of the employees
in Gerstungen are in the Development
Department, which includes designers,
technicians and engineers.
In logistical terms, Gerstungen has
an extremely good location: “We are
in the middle of Germany, on both
the east-west and north-south axes.
It is 30 km to the A7 highway, while
the A4 is just 100 m away,” Reinbold
sketches out the geographical position
of the die-casting company and
Klaus Eichler, who ran business at
24 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

An employee inspects the accuracy
of a labyrinth plate
Production line with stations for
in spections, preparation, washing
and air-blast cleaning
Inspecting a flange pipe for ZF with
a 3-D coordinate machine from Mitutoya
(Kawasaki, Japan)
Innovative solutions from the world‘s leader
in surface finishing
surface finishing • shot blasting
Visit us:
12.-14.01.2016 · Nürnberg
Hall 6 · Stand 6-213
www.rosler.com
Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH
Tel.: +49 / 9533 924-0 • info@rosler.com
CastingPlant_Ausgabe04.indd 1 05.10.2015 08:33:42
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 25

K PRESSURE DIE CASTING
Residual dirt analysis: the component is washed at a defined pressure and
spray volume. The detached particles are collected using a nylon filter and
then analyzed under the microscope
vehicle designer Novem in Vorbach
before his commitment to the ae
group, adds: “One day to the customer
really does apply here – an advantage
that the customers and our company
appreciate.”
Tight schedule
The product range – transmission control
components, exterior components
for the transmission, axle drive housings,
as well as engine and transmission
components – that the company produces
for large OEMs, carmakers and
commercial vehicle manufacturers
such as Daimler, Magna, Mahle or ZF
Friedrichshafen is, however, not only
in demand within Germany. 30 % of
production is exported to France, Belgium,
the USA, Sweden, the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Poland and Austria.
“Though the end-customers are often
the major European OEMs,” Eichler explains.
35 to 40 t of castings currently
leave the works every day.
The weights of the castings produced
range from 200 g (with multiple
cavities) to 22 kg. The castings are
made of aluminum silicon alloys 226
D and E and the weldable alloys 360
and 590. 70 % of the ae group’s products
are destined for carmakers and the
remaining 30 % is used in the commercial
vehicle industry. Most of the components
arriving at the customers are
ready for installation. Only a small
proportion, about one-third of total
production, leaves the works in unwrought
form.
Since April 2015 camshaft housings
for Thyssen, shift valves for Daimler
transmission controllers, and hybrid
transformer housings for the automotive
supplier Magna have been produced
in the new works hall. Orders
from ZF and BorgWarner, two other
heavyweights of the German automotive
supplier industy, also secure the
profitability of the investment. Sales
of parts should then rise from the current
105 million to 150 million euros
by 2018.
When procuring the new die-casting
plants, the planners also considered
the energy efficiency of the machines
to be very important: the new
plants have inverter technology, with
which electrical energy is only converted
to hydraulic energy when it is
actually needed.
Committed to cutting-edge
tech nologies
The fact that the ae group could think
about new investments at all is due
to two key figures: the new major investor
Dr. Michael Militzer, and Klaus
Eichler (who studied in Munich and has
worked at Gerstungen for three years).
Dr. Militzer and the Light Metal Investment
GmbH (LMI) belonging to his son
Christoph Militzer together hold 81 %
of the shares – and thus control the destiny
of the group of companies, consisting
of four works in Nentershausen,
Gerstungen, Lübeck and Strzelce Krajenskie
in Poland. Eichler has a holding
of 5 % in the die-casting specialists.
The ae group declared itself insolvent
following the financial and economic
crisis of 2009. The group’s business
then stagnated for many years with annual
sales of about 95 million euros.
Dr. Militzer’s commitment to the ae
group makes eminent sense when one
considers the entrepreneur’s previous
business activities: Dr. Militzer’s Mitec
Automotive AG is headquartered in
Eisenach, not far from Gerstungen. It
earns its money with so-called balancer
systems, among other things, which
serve to prevent vibrations caused by
a vehicle’s engine. These systems are
considered particularly important in
the wake of vehicle weight reductions
(downsizing) and the increased use of
hybrid technologies. Both measures
serve to reduce CO 2
emissions in line
with legal requirements. The aluminum
components from Gerstungen
are also ideally suited for the light construction
of vehicles. Both Mitec and
the ae group have experience working
with aluminum components. The entrepreneur
is thus consistently investing
in future-oriented technologies
whilst simultaneously expanding his
competences.
High customer demands
Eichler and Reinbold are particularly
proud of the numerous substitutes that
are produced at their works: weldable
castings are included among them, as
well as, for example, a frame for the
tailgate of the BMW i3 – an instance
of the carmaker rejecting the original
planning by using a casting instead of
26 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

plastic. Then there are door frames,
produced with profiles and so-called
corner castings. “Instead of using sheet
metal, one now makes these parts using
an aluminum die-casting process
again,” according to Eichler. In addition
to the innovative expansion of
the range of castings through the use
of substitutes, the ae group also gains
points with its competence in the production
of complex components. These
range from demanding geometries,
through stringent component accuracies
and tightnesses, to the functional
integration of aluminum castings.
One example is made up of two complex
castings that are put together by
the customer to create a fuel-carrying
module within which diesel is filtered
and dewatered – an innovative technology
that leads to greater fuel efficiency
and lower consumption.
“The comfort demands of drivers are
also constantly increasing,” says Klaus
Reinbold, providing an example: “In
order to ensure that one can drive an
automatic car smoothly, so that one
does not feel anything when the gear
changes, the valves in the gears must
sit tightly with low tolerance.” The
consequence of this for an aluminum
die-casting foundry like the ae group
in Gerstungen is maximum cleanliness
requirements.
Most of the workforce in Gerstungen
is used in the processing department
in order to meet the high customer demands
for cleanliness and precision:
double-spindle machines with very
high accuracy, air-conditioned clean
rooms, and washing plants from producers
such as Dürr Ecoclean in Filderstadt,
Germany, are therefore used. In
addition, three-layer heat treatments
are carried out to customize component
properties according to customer
requirements. Great importance is
also attached to quality assurance using
tightness inspections and other
measurement results, as well as random
samples or continuous sampling. The
traceability of potential faults is also
ensured: the components are provided
with a data matrix code so that they
can be identified even after years of use
and the measurement results called up.
The ae group’s expanded production
was also supported by the German
federal state of Thuringia with a
development loan of about 12 million
euros. The company now hopes for stable
growth.
www.ae-group.com
Video on the
construction of the
new production
hall in fast motion
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K PRESSURE DIE CASTING
Carat 280 die-casting machine with Smart Vac Technology (Photos and Figures: Bühler)
Author: Claude Stalder, Project Manager R&D Die Casting, Bühler, Uzwil
The next step in vacuum
die-casting
Vacuum systems in die-casting increase the quality of cast parts, but they have their limits. Not
anymore however: The integrated solution SmartVac by Bühler, Uzwil, Switzerland, offers increased
productivity, high flexibility and full traceability
In order to meet the demand for
high-quality structural parts in
die-casting, it is essential to work
with vacuum systems. As molten aluminum
fills the die, the residual dielubri
cant (waxes and/or oils) vaporizes.
If the vapors are not removed by
vacuum, they will become inclusions
within the die-cast part. However,
until now the industry wasn’t fond
of using vacuum systems since they
were causing errors and downtime.
Convinced that this could be done
better, Bühler launched the Smart-
Vac project.
28 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Limitations of existing
equipment
The company’s goal was to come up
with a new solution that eliminates
the weaknesses of the current vacuum
process. For example the information
exchange from the peripheral
vacuum device to the die-casting machine,
which is done over an interface
and is therefore limited. Also, the interaction
between vacuum unit and
shot movement is rather difficult and
disjointed. Frequent production disruptions
also occur. Data handling,
data storage and visualization, for example,
happen on different controls,
resulting in additional time and effort
for synchronization and evaluation.
SmartVac – the smart
vacuum method
Bühler worked meticulously on a new
approach to overcome those restrictions.
The R&D team came up with
SmartVac, a vacuum system that is
completely integrated into the diecasting
machine. To date, vacuum
control and monitoring equipment
were part of a separate peripheral
device and then connected to
the die-casting machine with cables
and hoses. The company now offers
an integrated solution. With this integrated
solution, the pipeline routing
is now enclosed and much shorter.
Mechanisms and check routines
have been incorporated in the machine
control system to detect potential
trouble early and send alerts
to prevent production shutdowns.
Maintenance is done proactively
and hold-ups can be avoided. Last
but not least, the integration also
saves space and offers the customer a
die-casting cell on a small footprint.
Easy operation and process
monitoring
SmartVac offers a centralized HMI
(Human Machine Interface). Everything
merges on one device, which
makes the operation much easier for
the operator. Adjustments of both the
vacuum system and process can be
done on one single screen. The vacuum
performance and filter conditions
are monitored and controlled continuously.
All adjustments and production
data are stored and visualized
on the same operator screen and can
easily be restored during a production
change. The customer can save, analyze,
link and use his data at his convenience.
Also, the allocation of data
to the respective shots happens automatically
and is therefore up-to-date
and accurate at all times. With this,
SmartVac ensures full traceability and
quality certification.
Process flexibility at its best
SmartVac offers maximum flexibility
in operation and a modular configuration.
The casting process is no longer
controlled by the vacuum system,
in fact the vacuum unit now supports
the process. The Swiss firm is one of
a few vendors who can individually
operate, monitor and control up to
four die-valves and one shot sleeve
evacuation device. Process flexibility
is guaranteed for both, evacuation
at the shot sleeve as well as evacuation
at the die. Also, the evacuation
device can be positioned according
Added Value
» Increase in productivity
» Overall process flexibility
» Integrated data storage and
quality control
» Complete traceability
» Easy operation
» Predictive maintenance
to customers’ requirements. Thanks
to the complete integration, the first
phase of the die-casting process can
be automated. Algorithms were implemented
which ensure that the
amount of entrapped gas in the melt
is minimized and the part quality
can be improved accordingly. This
feature is unique in the market and
saves customers up to two seconds in
cycle time.
Overall productivity increase
Several SmartVac machines are already
in use, and customer feedbacks
are consistently positive. With preventive
maintenance measures, a
considerable reduction of downtime,
minimal rejects, easy operation, continuous
independent monitoring
and data that is available at any time,
efficiency is increased all along the
line. The integration of the vacuum
system pays off – in terms of productivity,
flexibility and quality.
www.buhlergroup.com
Figure 1: A vacuum system
integrated into the die-casting
machine prevents production
down­times­and­simplifies­operation
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 29

K MELTING SHOP
Author: Christine Gaßel, Gebhardt-Seele, München
Better energy values, fewer
charging operations
The first furnace from the new company ZPF GmbH has proven its worth at Metallwerk Friedrich
Deutsch. The Austrian company also operates one of the very first ZPF furnaces built in 1993
At the metal-working factory Friedrich Deutsch GmbH the first melting furnace supplied by the re-established company
ZPF GmbH has been in operation since February 2014 – next to a first-generation ZPF therm furnace from 1993
(Photos: Metallwerk Friedrich Deutsch)
Economical, environmentally friendly
aluminium melting technology
has always been the prime focus of
ZPF therm Maschinenbau GmbH, Siegelsbach,
Germany, since it was established.
Since November 2013, these
tried-and-tested and continuously improved
melting furnaces are being produced
under the name ZPF GmbH.
The first installation was already delivered
in February 2014, not entirely by
chance to a customer who is still operating
six first-generation ZPF furnaces
from 1993 – to Metallwerk Friedrich
Deutsch GmbH, market leaders for ski
edges and a major supplier to the automotive
industry. Due to their positive
experience and satisfaction with
the furnace engineering from Siegelsbach
in the past, the decision was taken
to continue the working relationship
with the new ZPF company. Meanwhile,
the plant is running at full capacity
and has already proven to be exceptionally
economical.
The metal-working factory Friedrich
Deutsch in Innsbruck, Austria, is primarily
known for its pre-shaped and
partly pre-finished steel edges for the
ski and sport industry. In addition, the
company manufactures pressure diecast
aluminium components for all the
prominent car producers in Europe –
30 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

several thousand tonnes of material are
melted at their mill every year. So far,
this work has been done by six melting
and holding furnaces from ZPF therm
in 24-h continuous operations. “An expansion
was, however, necessary for capacity
reasons”, explains Hubert Tilg,
manager of the die-casting division.
“Because we were absolutely satisfied
with the existing furnaces and they offer
an excellent price-performance ratio
as well, it was clear that we would
again opt for ZPF.” A further factor was
that, because of their familiarity with
these melting facilities, the staff at the
metal working factory can continue
to carry out most of the maintenance
work on the new furnace themselves.
In only three months, the required
installations were manufactured in Siegelsbach
in the German federal state of
Baden-Wuerttemberg and delivered to
the customer. The system consists of
an aluminium melting furnace with a
melting capacity of 1,500 kg/h and a
holding bath for 5,000 kg, an attached
charging machine, and a 17” filtering
furnace for cleaning the molten metal.
“Thanks to its size, the new melting
furnace yields much better energy
values and is thus even more economical
than the previous systems,” says
Mr. Tilg. “Apart from that, the larger
charging system doesn’t need to be
loaded so frequently, a further factor
which reduces energy consumption
and increases performance.”
Saves energy and reduces
emissions thanks to special
construction
The ZPF furnace engineering for the
Austrian company aims generally
at keeping the energy consumption
as low as possible and implements
flue gas reversal to achieve this. With
this principle, instead of the hot flue
gases from the melting process being
discharged straight away, they are routed
inside the furnace in such a way that
their heat can be used to hold the molten
aluminium at a high temperature.
In addition, the combustion chamber
made of refractory concrete acts not
only as a separating layer between the
aggressive liquefied aluminium and
the outer shell of the furnace, but also
Figure 1: At the metal working factory, the molten aluminium is used, among
other things, for producing complex pressure die-cast components for the
automotive industry
as insulation, reducing the emission
of heat to the surroundings and functioning
as an energy accumulator. It
is consequently much easier to keep
the temperature inside the furnace at
a constant level. In combination with
the waste gas recirculation, the fuel requirement
is very low making the furnace
particularly efficient and environmentally
friendly. At the same time, the
longer route of the waste gases inside
the melting system brings about lower
emission values since practically all pollutants
are burnt in the post-combustion
process at over 800 °C. This means
that ZPF installations can be used without
flue gas filters.
Besides this, ZPF technology also has
an impact on the melting quality and
on the maintenance costs: the waste
gases remaining inside the furnace generate
a slight overpressure which prevents
any additional oxygen from entering.
The adverse reaction of oxygen
with aluminium – which would cause
corundum to form in the melt and on
the inside walls – can consequently be
kept at a very low level. This technique
achieves both a higher degree of purity
in the liquefied aluminium as well
as reducing damage to the refractory
walls, thus avoiding expenditure for
relining and repairing the plant.
Contract is continuation of
long business relationship
The melting furnace has been working
to full capacity without any problems
Figure 2: Previously, the company
melted several tonnes of aluminium
a year using six ZPF furnaces. It is intended
to further increase this capacity
with the new installation
since being commissioned in February
2014. “We already have one of the first
– if not the first – furnace made by the
former company ZPF therm, and that
is still in operation today. And we will
continue working very closely with
ZPF”, explains Michael Deutsch, CEO
of Metallwerk Friedrich Deutsch. “ZPF
is a partner with true ‘handshake reliability’
with whom you can go through
the ups and downs of life. As a result
of the new ownership, our confidence
has increased even further.” The company
is already considering ordering a
further furnace in the medium term as
an additional safeguard for the event of
breakdowns.
www.metalldeutsch.com
www.zpf-gmbh.de
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 31

K AUTOMATION
Author: Michael Franken, German Foundry Association, Düsseldorf
Unique in the world
This year in March, the Kurtz Ersa group officially inaugurated its “Smart Foundry” at the production
site in Hasloch, Germany. The construction of the new foundry had been meticulously
planned for several years and involved an investment volume of some 12 million Euros. It incorporates
numerous elements of what is referred to as “Foundry Industry 4.0”
A special suction system extracts and filters emissions arising during treatment of the melt (Photos: Klaus Bolz, Kurtz Ersa)
Something is different in this foundry.
But what is it? Is it the transport
routes? Could be. They are extremely
spacious, well conceived and perfectly
interconnected. What else is different?
Is it the fact that there is virtually no
dust on the floor? This is certainly unusual
for a busy hand-molding foundry.
As a matter of fact what you see here
is certainly not what you would expect
from an iron foundry. And something
else is striking: The newly built bay for
what is actually a classical hand-molding
shop is not only flooded with light
but also extremely neatly arranged. It
actually looks as if it had just been tidied
up. Our first impression is that
things work somewhat differently
here. And then LENA appears at the
far end of the bay where uncountable
flasks are neatly stacked for intermediate
storage. Every second, LENA flashes
headlights arranged at “her” extreme
ends on the left and right, indicating
that a massive “something” weighing
several tonnes is hovering towards us.
“We had spent a lot of time inspecting
transport systems in operation in different
areas of industry and examining
and weighing their pros and cons
until we eventually came across a solution
applied in the aviation industry,”
explains Rainer Kurtz, Chief Executive
Officer of Kurtz Holding GmbH & Co.
KG. While Rainer Kurtz looks to the
right into the molding shop, TINA is
approaching from behind, some 30 m
away from him. TINA is another heavyweight
transporter driven by four electric
motors and weighing almost 10 t.
Both of them, LENA and TINA are carrying
flasks coming from the casting
32 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

shop and weighing several tonnes. At
Airbus, such transporters guarantee a
continuous flow of production in aircraft
construction. Being cooperatively
operating transport systems, they take
decisions autonomously but in line
with the common production target.
They make an important contribution
to the success of flow production at
Airbus. If those flashing, orange-painted
cubic objects were able to help producing
Airbus components fully automatically,
in series and just in time,
why shouldn’t that work with the production
of castings? “Our answer to
that question was: Let’s build a Smart
Foundry!”, remembers Rainer Kurtz.
Everything fits together
perfectly
As if driven by magic, the hovering
transporters made by WFT, Sulzbach,
Germany, manoeuvre the massive flasks
to their assigned destinations for cooling.
They move from A to B to C and to
D. Each letter stands for a possible stopping
station, a previously calculated position
of the production chain. What
looks so simple, depends on meticulous
timing. Everything has been calculated
down to the smallest detail, stored in an
SAP data pool and takes place virtually
fully automatically. The highly sophisticated
and advanced software programs
tell TINA and LENA where to go
next in the cooling bay covering an area
of almost 3,000 m 2 . The risk of colliding
is virtually zero. This is important as
the mobile transporters carry extremely
heavy loads. They can easily handle
payloads of up to 80 t without restricting
their mobility. In addition to TINA
and LENA, two other “strong girls”,
called MARIE and EMMA, are taking
care of the heavy molding boxes that
day during the morning shift. Amidst
the transporters’ flashing headlights
and humming sound, a sweeper speeds
over the concrete floor, which looks as if
it had just been freshly polished. While
the transporters are unmanned, the
brand new sweeper is steered by a hu-
View of the systems-controlled cooling bay, which also features a technologically
advanced air conditioning system
LENA takes a transport pallet and a flask to the next work station. Ever since
its official start-up, the system has been working without problems
Hard to believe: the transporters
move fully automatically from one
cooled flask to the next
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 33

K AUTOMATION
man operator. The four powerful transport
vehicles hover at snail’s pace between
the molding shop, casting shop,
cooling area and shake-out stations, the
logistical epicentres of the Kurtz foundry.
The only critical point is that the systems
are very sensitive to dust and dirt.
That is why the sweeper is almost constantly
in operation.
Perfectly clocked flow
pro duction
In 2007 an internal working group had
been set up to develop what has turned
out to be an entirely new material flow
concept. “We had a clearly defined target:
a clocked flow production in our
hand-molding foundry similar to the
Toyota principle known from the automotive
industry,” explains CEO Rainer
Kurtz.
The Kurtz team took the challenge
and accomplished the task. From an
ambitious project evolved a genuinely
smart foundry. Let’s take a quick look
back: Initially, there had been the plausible
objective of removing the flasks
after pouring from the casting shop as
quickly as possible in order to get them
out of the way. Preventing congestion
in the casting shop was the prime task.
Gradually the concept of a flexible
process chain evolved based on a production
scheme controlled by SAP, on
shop floor parcelling and on an unmanned
and unbound transportation
system, which would provide the possibility
of combining manual manufacturing
steps with automated logistics
in a most convenient way. A look at
the “tidy” cooling area in the back gives
the visitor an idea of how this works in
practice, in the rough foundry environment.
Slowly and extremely cautiously,
LENA is moving sideways underneath a
transport pallet on which a cooled flask
is waiting to be removed. “The vehicles
always know their exact positions,” explains
Graziano Sammati, Managing
Director of the iron foundry Kurtz Eisenguss
GmbH & Co. KG. Sammati tells
us that he had been ambitious to leave
beaten tracks in this project to create
something entirely new. TINA and
her “girlfriends” possess automomous
knowledge. Based on the programmed
SAP data, they decide for themselves
where to go next. The use of advanced
communication and sensor technology
allows them to move about without the
risk of colliding and act in a collective
manner. The transporters built by WFT
hover about 10 cm above the floor. They
are automatically readjusted every few
meters. The four unmanned transporters
stick to clearly defined courses. All
courses end at defined, numbered positions.
It is a highly elaborate system. A
status chart is displayed on the central
master computer.
The fact that this foundry, which is
probably one of most modern handmolding
foundries in the world,
could be commissioned in early
March this year – just 13 months after
ground-breaking – is last but not
least owed to the perfect planning by
the Kurtz Ersa project team. The team
also included in-house IT experts. For
about eight years, management and
staff at Kurtz Ersa had been discussing
the question of how the hand-molding
foundry of the 21st century could look
like. Questions related to the future
of the Hasloch production site were
dealt with within the framework of the
Hammer Innovation Program, abbreviated
as HIP. The bottom line drawn
from all those considerations had been
that the mechanical engineering industry
in Germany does have a future.
Therefore, there should also be good
prospects for a hand-molding foundry
based in Germany provided it produced
efficiently and was able to operate
in a highly flexible manner. “The
key to success is to organize internal
processes and procedures in such a
way that they can cope with the challenges
of the future,” explains Rainer
Kurtz. And then he starts telling us
about his Smart Foundry and how it
came about. He is very satisfied with
the results achieved so far. “Everything
has progressed according to schedule,”
he summarizes the achievements.
It takes some time to fully grasp the
complexity and the entire scope of the
While LENA is still smoothly moving underneath the transport pallet with
inch-perfect precision, 5 m away, MARIE is already hovering off to the
cooling bay with the next filled flask
Rainer Kurtz is proud of his team’s
achievements. In his opinion, innovations,
such as the Smart Foundry, are
the drivers of progress
34 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Smart Foundry project. It is extremely
interesting to learn about the cleverly
thought out details implemented by the
HIP team. Like in a puzzle, small pieces
have grown together eventually forming
an integral entity. The close interlinking
of the individual processes is a key to the
success of the entire Smart Foundry. In
other words, a great challenge had been
to effectively interlink the SAP system
with bespoke transport logistics, with
the melt shop and the other processes
of the production chain, including
activities as diverse as controlled shaking-out
of flasks, fettling and machining
of raw castings, and dispatching the
finished castings. In the new Kurtz iron
foundry the term “seamless” has taken
up a whole new meaning.
MARIE takes the flasks to the casting area
Nothing works without
software
The Smart Foundry is operated and
controlled from a central control room
where the complete production process
including all sub-processes and process
elements is displayed. “By interlinking
all individual elements, we have set
up an extremely flexible process chain
which allows us to combine manual
production steps such as flask filling
with an automated logistics system in
a most efficient way,” explains Sammati.
There are eight monitors in the control
room. Cycle times are constantly
optimized based on the process data
supplied by the monitors. One monitor
displays the current positions of the remote-controlled
transporters. Another
one keeps Sammati informed about the
status of the melting furnaces and the
condition of the refractory lining. Also
the work orders are electronically transmitted
to the manufacturing personnel.
“We still have not reached the stage of
a completely paperless factory. We will
have to live with a certain amount of accompanying,
order-related paperwork
for a while,” believes Sammati. For the
employees in the coremaking shop this
means that they will continue to be receiving
their instructions, for example,
which core support to use, in the traditional
way on paper. “Maybe one day everybody
in the workshops will have an
iPad,” says Sammati. But that is still up
in the air. The clear division practiced at
this implementation stage of the Smart
Foundry has proved highly successful so
far. Down-to-earth pragmatism, which
takes into account the requirements of
the actual production process, has remained
a crucial factor also in times of
Industry 4.0. The current practice at the
Hasloch foundry is as follows: While the
control of the complete production process
is handled entirely paper-less by the
logistics system, which is the backbone
Company Profile
of the control system, information and
instructions directly relating to the shop
operations still come on paper. This division
has proved highly viable in practice.
Automating the foundry logistics is
only one step of a more general innovation
process intended to lead towards
what Industry 4.0 stands for. That the
Smart Foundry could be implemented
in its current form under the leadership
of Graziano Sammati is last but not least
Kurtz Ersa Corporation is a family-owned
business with a long tradition. Founded
in 1779 as a hammer mill and expanded
in 1852 by an iron foundry, the company
has evolved into an internationally
active high-tech company and equipment
supplier over its more than 235
years of history. The product and service
range is subdivided into the business
segments “Electronics Production
Equipment”, “Metal Components”
und “Molding Machines”.
Under the brand Ersa, the company
offers integrated solutions for electronics
production and the world’s most
ample range of stencil printers, soldering
machines, soldering tools and rework
systems under one roof. Under
the brand Kurtz, Kurtz GmbH successfully
designs, builds and markets particle
foam machines and foundry machines.
With the Smart Foundry, Kurtz
Eisenguss GmbH & Co. KG operates
what is probably the world’s most modern
hand-molding foundry producing
iron castings to customer order – in
premium quality and with outstanding
supply performance. The overall product
and service range is complemented
by MBW Metallbearbeitung Wertheim
GmbH, which manufactures exacting
metal components at two locations.
Kurtz Ersa Corporation has approximately
1,150 employees worldwide.
In 2014, it achieved a sales volume of
203 million Euros. The company is active
in those areas in which the key supply
chains offer potential for top performance
according to the arm’s length
principle. The company has achieved
technology and market leadership in
many areas.
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 35

K AUTOMATION
All processes under control: Managing
Director Graziano Sammati in
the control room
The transporter – in this case LENA – passing the rolled up door as it hovers
from the casting bay to the cooling area
owed to the vision and innovative spirit
characterizing the corporate culture
of the Kurtz Ersa group. The idea had
been to design the future of the foundry
in a team effort. The result is an almost
doubling of productivity accompanied
by a dramatic improvement of
safety at work.
As a result of the decoupled production processes, the working conditions
have markedly improved
Setting new standards
Almost as a side effect, the first implementation
phase of the “Foundry 4.0
made by Kurtz Ersa” has set new standards
in safety. Let’s take the new pouring
shop as an example. What today
accommodates casting machine parts
weighing several tonnes, such as machine
beds or pump housings, used to
be the sand reconditioning area. Today
the casting shop is separated from the
meltshop and the cooling area by rollup
doors. Decoupling the working areas
has had a positive effect on operating
procedures. Additionally, extraction
equipment of the latest design has been
installed in the casting shop. “That has
markedly improved the working conditions
in the casting area,” says Rainer
Kurtz. For the 120 employees in Hasloch
that means a healthier workplace
as a result of dramatically reduced emissions,
lower temperatures and more
space to work. Smart control and tim-
Man and machine
interact perfectly
36 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

The sand regeneration system in the shake-out area sets new standards
ing of the production process ensures
that the heats are available just in time
and in highest quality.
All segments of the production
chain, for example, the molding shop,
casting shop, cooling area and shakeout
bay, are organized as separate, decoupled
production units. Looking at
what is going on in the cooling area, we
become witnesses of how this works in
practice. While LENA is moving underneath
a loading pallet, the door separating
the cooling area and the shakeout
bay is closed. Behind that door,
residual sand is being removed from
the castings. All dynamic processes
handled by the unmanned transport
system are fine adjusted by the logistics
system. “We have definitely established
a network of systems in the sense
of Industry 4.0,” says Rainer Kurtz. By
that time, TINA has already moved on
and turned around, bringing “herself”
into position to hover toward the other
end of the bay. EMMA has meanwhile
picked up flasks at the molding shop
and is now hovering towards the casting
shop. “It’s a kind of magic” – the
song by Queen comes to my mind. But
what is going on here has nothing to do
with magic. TINA deposits “her” freight
in the cooling area, and immediately
the cooling time programmed in SAP
starts to count down. Digital clocks determine
the entire process flow. When
the preset cooling time is over – not one
second earlier or later- will the SAP controlled
system send a signal to the unmanned
logistics system, triggering the
pick-up of the cooled flask and its transport
to the shake-out area. It could very
well be that not TINA but EMMA, MA-
RIE or LENA will perform that job and
transport the flask onwards. That does
not make a difference because the casting
itself tells the person in the control
room at which position and in which
condition it is.
For Kurtz Ersa, Foundry Industry 4.0
means that they can now offer even
more value added services to their
customers, last but not least based
on an intelligently clocked, SAP R3
controlled production flow which
is managed via an internal, trackless
transport system. “This ensures
that the right work is always at the
right workplace at the right time,” explains
Graziano Sammati, while checking
the control monitors. Sammati
is at ease. All systems run smoothly.
www.kurtzersa.de
smart-foundry.de
Unbenannt-1 1 05.10.15 11:56
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 37

K SIMULATION
Author: Julian Gänz, CD-adapco, Nürnberg
New simulation techniques for
die-casting processes
The ever-growing demand of high pressure die-casted parts with thinner walls and even larger
surface-to-volume ratios has put a significant strain on the stability of the process as well as its
simulation. This fact is further highlighted as die-casted parts are more and more used for structural
components in the automotive industry, requiring heat treatment. Air inclusions are critical
applications where the casting simulation software STAR-Cast offers a more detailed simulation
approach to better address flow-related defects
Figure 1: Temperature spreading during filling (left); hot spot indication during solidification (right) (Figures: CD Adapco)
Die-casting is the go-to manufacturing
technology for mass-produced, lightweight
components made from metal,
predominantly aluminum and magnesium
alloys. Most of the high pressure
die-casted parts are manufactured for
the automotive industry but consumer
electronics are also making use of this
technology.
High pressure die-casting (HPDC)
means that a metal plunger is pushing
liquid metal into a cavity at high
speed and pressure. This process allows
for the production of very thinwalled
castings with repeatable product
quality. Up until recently, the
HPDC process had a reputation of producing
low quality parts/components
with weak structural properties, but
better process control and new alloys
have changed this perception. These
changes permit using heat treatable
parts, thus allowing high pressure
die- casted parts to be used for structural
components, replacing metal
sheet or welding construction. One
of the most prominent examples of
this trend is the shock tower in a car.
Another example for high pressure
die-casted parts is a gearbox housing
of a car, shown in Figure 1.
The challenges with die-casting
Most common defect modes for
die-casted parts are shrinkage, porosities,
misruns, gas inclusions. Of these,
38 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Figure 2: Dosing (right) and motion simulation
of the shot curve reveals possible
oxide entrainments and air inclusions
(Figures on the right show differences in
air entrainment for changed shot curves)
gas inclusions and misruns are hardest
to control and often even modern
simulation strategies struggle to provide
adequate solutions. Problems occur
because the mold filling is not well
enough understood, making it hard to
design the mold efficiently, by minimizing
excess material, while at the
same time respecting the die-casting
machine’s clamping forces. In addition,
entrapped gas can lead to blistering
during heat treatments, rendering
the part useless for structural components
or requiring too much fettling
in areas where appearance of the part
is critical.
Why STAR-Cast?
STAR-Cast is a powerful casting simulation
module jointly developed by
Access e.V., Aachen, Germany, and
CD-adapco, Melville, USA. Drawing
on CD-adapco’s 35 years of expertise
in thermal-fluid simulation and Access’
29 years of experience in casting
and metallurgy, STAR-Cast integrates
industry-leading computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) technology with the
specific models required by the casting
engineer, and brings a new level of precision
into casting process simulation
for the manufacturing industry.
The simulation software can be used
to address flow related issues more accurately,
allowing for a better understanding
of the complete casting process.
The key to better predict the flow
starts with a faithful representation of
the plunger motion and identify possible
shortcomings in the shot curve design
early on. Achieving a higher fidelity
flow description not only requires
more detailed physics, but more attention
needs to be paid to the discretization
of the model as well (Figure 2).
Getting the physics right
Many cast parts need to be heat-treated
after the fact and gas inclusions in
the metal can lead to undesired blistering.
Therefore the simulation model
needs to accurately predict the entrapment
of air and gas during the
filling process to aid understanding
leakage problems and gas porosities.
The software allows the interaction
between the molten metal and the air
to be correctly described by modeling
the air as a separate phase which can
be displaced or entrapped within the
melt, and either find its way to a appropriately
placed bean or vent, or get
compressed and remain inside critical
areas of the cast part (Figure 3).
The volume of fluid method is commonly
accepted as a valid approach
to capture multiphase problems with
a sharp front between phases and neglected
mixing. The turbulent flow, including
phase changes in the melt, is
usually computed using Navier-Stokes
equations, but often the air phase
is not accurately described. This is
caused by applying a bulk pressure
boundary condition on the free surface
with no consideration for the air
whatsoever. The more complex the
geo metry gets and the faster the filling
process occurs, the more difficult
it becomes to get accurate answers.
STAR-Cast solves these difficult problems
as it follows the continuum mechanics
approach and allows to accurately
calculate both air and melt flows
inside the mold. This comes at a slightly
higher computational expense but is
an important step towards predictive
mold filling analysis.
Ensuring accurate geometry
and mesh representations
Accurately capturing geometric details
and discretizing the geometry in
a way that accommodates the steep
gradients in temperature and velocity
inside the casted part are other
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 39

K SIMULATION
either data format, depending on the
overall CAD-to-simulation process,
although it is recommended to stay
with native CAD as long as possible
as it makes for easy part swapping and
fast design evaluations with less user
interaction.
Figure 3: Identify recirculation areas in gating system for a gear box housing
critical aspects of mold filling analysis.
Since a high resolution mesh provides
more insight into physical phenomena,
smart meshing technologies
are key to provide the required resolution
in critical areas while saving cell
count and computational effort where
appropriate. For example, the software
allows to use multiple cell layers
across thin sections of a part and
grow the mesh density rapidly from
there to areas where having a dense
mesh is not as crucial. STAR-Cast
also benefits from the state-of-the-art
CAD-to-mesh pipeline of Star-CCM+
and delivers automatically created,
body-fitted, polyhedral meshes with
prismatic layers to accurately capture
the flow behavior and strong temperature
gradients that occur during casting
(Figure 4).
Handling design changes
A fast design cycle requires a simulation
process that can quickly adapt
to last minute design changes. One
big challenge for the casting engineer
is to have to deal with large CAD
assemblies out of which only a subgroup
is relevant for the simulation.
These parts need to be extracted and
transferred to the simulation package.
Commonly used neutral file formats
allow for a robust geometry transfer
but lack a flexibility for design changes
and lose a lot of information from
the native CAD. Furthermore the software
enables the engineer to plug in
Automating the process
All this special attention to the physics
and mesh serves the important
purpose of making casting simulations
more accurate and reliable but
usability and turnaround time need
to be considered as well. Increasingly
more affordable compute resources
and a modern software architecture
designed for large models and strong
parallelization are starting to take away
a lot of the pain of having to wait too
long on computational results. More
importantly, the time spent setting
up these types of problems needs to
be minimized. Engineers should be
spending their time interpreting results
and making decisions to improve
the process rather than manually
setting up simulations. This is why a
streamlined process ensuring automation
is mandatory. The guided workflow
in STAR-Cast guarantees an efficient
simulation setup so that process
variations can be quickly evaluated.
It enables process-driven simulations
and allows users to load configurations
and save case studies with little manual
interaction, ensuring repeatability
(Figure 5).
Conclusion
The simulation software can counteract
air inclusions by considering the
air as a key factor to solving the problem,
thus solving for it as well during
the simulation. In addition, it gives the
engineer the freedom to refine models
so that all the physics can be resolved,
resulting in better solutions. Finally, in
order to be used in a productive manner,
the parallelization and automation
makes it a very effective tool for
high pressure die-casting.
Figure 4: Mesh resolution inside the cast part
www.cd-adapco.com
40 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Casting
Special
North
America
Photo: US Army

Together with partner Linamar Corp., Guelph, Ontario, Canada, lightweight expert GF Automotive, Schaffhausen,
Switzerland, builds a new die-casting plant in the USA (Photo: Georg Fischer)
Author: Shannon Wetzel, Senior editor of Modern Casting, Schaumburg
US metalcasting industry
at a glance
The U.S. metalcasting industry is a global leader in casting production and sales, with a foundation
of suppliers that can produce cast components in all metals via all processes
The industry has recovered fully from
the recession of 2009 and is on solid
standing, with continued growth expected
in the coming years. In 2014,
the USA reached 36.7 billion US-dollar
(34.4 billion euro) in casting sales,
producing nearly 12 million tons of
castings.
This industry faced a crossroads in
2008-2010 when the future of the industry
was uncertain. Today, only a
handful of years later, it has reached an
equilibrium in the supply chain. Not
everything is being sourced to low-cost
countries, as it seemed 10 years ago, nor
is everything being sourced domestically.
A balance has been struck. Currently,
80 % of all castings for the USA are
sourced to domestic metalcasters, with
20 % sourced outside the USA.
Although US production in several
non-automotive markets is down significantly
right now, recent headlines
show investment and continued interest
in the US metalcasting supply
chain:
» Sakthi breaks ground on a 31.8 million
US-dollar (29.8 million euro)
casting expansion in Michigan
» Georg Fischer and Linamar Agree to
build a metalcasting facility in the
Southeast USA
» Kamtek is to invest 80 million
US-dollar (75 million euro) in a new
die-casting facility in Alabama
» Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway
42 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

SPECIAL
purchases precision castparts for 37
billion US-dollar (34.7 billion euro).
Growth is expected in all foundry
sectors
The future for US metalcasting is full
of possibilities. The key is the ability
of metalcasters to take advantage of
them.
All metals are expected to see sales
growth in the short term. The biggest
growths are forecast in investment cast
steel, aluminum and copper, with rates
above 3 % from 2014 to 2016, while
compacted graphite iron is expected
to jump 4.82 %.
Aluminium is the dominant
cast material
The US metalcasting industry is made
up of 1,965 facilities, and industry capacity
is 15.5 million tons, with the industry
forecast to operate at 81 % of capacity
in 2015
The USA is second in the world in
casting shipments based on tonnage,
following China and ahead of India.
Aluminum is the dominant material
cast in the USA, with 47 % of foundries
pouring some type of aluminum
alloy. While most facilities report pouring
more than one material, no other
metal comes close to aluminum’s
share. However, when it comes to volume,
aluminum comes in third after
ductile and gray iron.
Iron is the second most used material,
with 25.5 % of metalcasting facilities
pouring the metal. About 4 % of foundries
pour aluminum, iron and steel, and
7 % pour both aluminum and iron.
Horizontally parted green sand
molding is the perennial favorite process,
with nearly 40 % using it. Its vertically
parted counterpart, which often
is used for higher volumes, is found in
12 % of facilities. The nobake process is
used in 36 % of metalcasting facilities.
Many facilities report using multiple
processes. More than 7 % use both the
green sand and permanent mold processes,
and 25 % use the green sand and
nobake processes.
Added value is widely spread
Seventy percent of US facilities offer at
least one value-added service. Machining
is the most popular service. Nearly
80 % of facilities that offer a value-added
service perform machining. Heat
treatment, patternmaking and engineering
and design are all popular services,
as well.
www.afsinc.org
We’re Shaking Things Up
The Exhibitors You Love + Enhanced Education + Career Development Opportunities
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American Foundry.indd 1 25.11.15 12:59
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 43

SPECIAL
Author: Kitty Eman, Gemco Engineers B. V., Eindhoven, The Netherlands
On track
How voestalpine Nortrak Decatur’s foundry facility achieves an upgrade and capacity expansion
by improving its foundry logistics and maximizing the equipment’s utilization, requiring minimum
enlargement of the existing space
To increase its capacity railway supplier voestalpine Nortrak from Decatur, Illinois, USA, worked together with foundry
engineering company Gemco (Photos and graphics: Gemco)
In 2009 voestalpine Nortrak acquired
the assets of Leading Edge Enterprises
Inc. of Decatur, Illinois, USA. At the
time of acquisition the Decatur facility
offered a wide range of cast ductile
iron and manganese steel products
as well as injection molded plastic
items. At present the Decatur foundry
facility produces both ductile iron
and manganese steel castings entirely
dedicated to railroad trackwork
( Figure 1).
The plant has shown a continued
growth trend with production increasing
by more than 200 %. Consequently,
voestalpine Nortrak had
basically outgrown its Decatur production
facility and in order to meet
production growth a facility upgrade
and capacity expansion was required.
Expansion – as Nortrak envisions – allows
the company to perform projected
levels of production and maintain
its workforce for the long-term with
sufficient scope for sustained growth.
Railway crossings have very specific
properties and must meet strict requirements.
The maximum size of the
manganese steel castings poured at
the foundry has a maximum weight
of roughly 4,800 lbs (approximately
2,175 kg) and a maximum length
of roughly 288 inches (approximately
7, 3 m). For engineering and expert assistance
with the project voestalpine
Nortrak chose to work with Gemco En-
44 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Figure 1: voestalpine Nortrak casts steel and iron pieces of railroad trackwork
gineers, Eindhoven, The Netherlands,
who already worked with the VAE
group on other projects and – among
other – successfully designed and realized
(turn-key) a VAE railway crossings
foundry in Europe.
Project objectives
Before the capacity expansion the Decatur
plant’s casting capacity was for
around 400 clean t per week (combined
manganese steel and ductile
iron). With the expansion the company
aimed to gradually double the
manganese steel castings production
while maintaining the capacity level
for ductile iron production. The expansion
project should include all infrastructure
and process improvements
required to meet the project objectives.
While project objectives and intention
were clear, the project also had its constraints.
The expansion, optimization
and improvements should be planned,
built and commissioned in a manner
that minimizes adverse interference
with the ongoing operation of the
foundry. The entire expansion project
also had to be compliant with existing
permits as issued by the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency. It was
then decided to split the realization of
this foundry project in two phases.
The approach
In order to determine the best possible
way to achieve the project objectives,
the existing foundry layout needed to
INFO
be reviewed and the actual functional
capacity for large manganese alloy
castings to be evaluated, followed by
identification and a preliminary plan/
design for (potential) foundry and process
improvements necessary to meet
the project objectives, including:
» the (required) equipment
voestalpine Nortrak is North America’s leading manufacturer of special trackwork.
It is uniquely positioned in the industry with specialized engineering and
integrated manufacturing capabilities. If it’s required in special trackwork, Nortrak
can produce it: from concrete ties, to machined components, manganese and
ductile iron castings, and injection molded synthetics. voestalpine Nortrak operates
manufacturing facilities in seven locations across the U.S. including a foundry
in Decatur, Illinois.
Gemco Engineers counts for over 35 years of experience in the foundry industry
and offers complete foundry solutions for iron, steel, aluminium and all other
castable metals. The company provides a complete range of services that encompass
process- and feasibility studies, (concept-) engineering, design, planning of
complete new foundries, project management, contracting services and turnkey
realization of foundry projects. Recent North American foundry (realization) projects
completed or in progress: Blackhawk de Mexico, Rassini Frenos, Mexico, and
voestalpine Nortrak, Decatur, USA (among other)
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 45

SPECIAL
» the (required) process changes
» the (future/required) foundry layout
» preliminary estimation of required
capital investment (project costs)
Emphasizing that any infrastructure
and process improvements should be
designed to minimize risks to worker
safety. Achieving optimum health,
safety, and environmental conditions
are always prerequisites in a project.
The project started with an in-depth
assessment of the existing facility/operations
to determine the functional
capacity of the equipment in place
and the interface challenges (logistics,
communication, buffers, etc.)
between the different production departments
in the foundry.
Bottleneck analysis
In order to draw an initial conclusion
where and to what extend additional
equipment would be required to
(gradually) achieve the targeted doubling
in capacity, a bottleneck analysis
was conducted for each foundry department:
molding area, melting area,
scrap charging, pouring area (including
cope lifting and cooling), mold
opening and the connection with the
sand reclamation and heat treatment/
quenching.
The bottleneck analysis clearly indicated
the areas that required additional
machinery. However, the analysis also
indicated how certain equipment in
place could be better utilized by changing/improving
the operational flow (logistics)
and (creating) buffers before and
after appointed equipment (Figure 2).
Process Changes
The proposed process changes in certain
departments such as conversion
of the molding process to a dynamic
production process by splitting it into
multiple steps and changing the pouring
process from a batch- into a continuous
(and flexible) pouring process permits
to increase the production capacity
to the required expansion levels within
the current available space. Mechanization
in these departments optimizes
the workflow and will reduce the labor/
mold.
Furthermore, proposed mechanization,
also in other departments, will
eliminate manual operations and increase
workers’ safety, a prerequisite
in the expansion project.
Phase 1, a new sand system
An imperative subject within the project
was the sand system. Prior to the
project, Decatur’s manganese alloy
production employed a no-bake sand
molding system and primarily utilized
flaskless molding with olivine
sand and silica backing. Since US olivine
sand has become more difficult for
US foundries to source, Nortrak already
envisioned changing the sand system.
In order to mitigate sharp increases in
the cost of olivine sand and to improve
the surface quality of its castings, Nortrak
intended to convert to a chromite
sand molding system. However, before
taking the final decision over the new
sand system Gemco presented a comparison
of olivine (current olivine-silica
system and pure olivine system with
thermal reclamation) vs chromite-silica
systems (system with separation
Figure 2: Summary of the outcome of bottleneck analysis
46 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Figure 3: voestalpine Nortrak, Decatur, proposed layout in order to achieve projected capacity expansion (yellow=
building extensions)
unit, system with furan binder system,
or system with separation unit and
thermal reclamation) and required
equipment. voestalpine Nortrak decided
on a chromite silica system with furane
binder. When employing an olivine
(basic) sand system, the furan (acid)
binder system cannot be applied. In nobake
sand molding, the furan binder
system is however the most commonly
used system (also within the voestalpine
Group). Furan combines good
binding properties with superior regeneration
rates over other binder systems.
Quartz sand would be the most
economical molding material, but because
of its pour thermal physic qualities
and the inevitable quartz inversion
of silica sand it cannot be applied
for facing sand for the steel castings of
Nortrak. Although relatively expensive,
chromite sand provides excellent
facing sand qualities and is lightly magnetic.
The latter quality enables the use
of the more cost effective silica sand as
backing sand as the chromite sand can
be separated from the return sand. In
this way, it can be reclaimed and reused
as facing sand with minimum addition
of new chromite sand to compensate
losses. The study showed that
Cr/Si would be the most cost efficient
system for Nortrak.
Phase 1 of the project also included
moving of the plastics department to
a new location and relocation of the
pattern shop and cleaning bays. After
which installation, commissioning
and testing of the new sand system
could be performed. Realization
of phase 1 has been completed.
Phase 2, layout changes
The second phase of the project shall
encompass the implementation of
process changes and additional equipment
as well as changing the foundry’s
logistics. By adopting the recommended
process/operational changes
to maximize the equipments’ utilization
on the one hand and mechanization
in order to optimize the production
flow whilst minimizing handling
on the other hand, it will be possible to
significantly improve the foundry logistics
in the currently available space.
Therefore expansion of the building
could be limited to the strictly necessary
to serve to the improved production
flow/foundry logistics, already
taking into account future sustained
growth (Figure 3).
Capital Investment
The overall expansion project requires
an estimated investment of approx.
6,850,000 US-dollar (6.5 million euro):
Phase 1: 1,850,000 US-dollar (1.7 million
euro ) for the sand system
Phase 2: 5,000,000 US-dollar (4.7 million
euro) for molding, finishing and
scrap hndling.
Despite economic uncertain times,
voestalpine Nortrak’s Decatur facility
has demonstrated a continued growth
trend over the years by providing quality
trackwork to the rail industry. With
the upgrade and capacity expansion of
the facility the company can continue
to stay on that track for years to come.
www.gemco.nl
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 47

XXXX
Bradken’s steel foundry in Tacoma, Washington, USA, develops and manufactures castings for the energy sector, such
as turbine components, pumps, valves, compressors, and hydropower generators (Photos: GOM)
Author: Edgar Lange, Düsseldorf
US foundry Bradken implements
optical measuring technology
US steel foundry Bradken has implemented optical 3-D metrology for its large-sized castings.
This enables inspection processes to be accelerated, tolerance requirements to be met and rework
to be reduced
The Bradken foundry in Tacoma,
Washington, USA, has a long tradition.
Tracing its roots back to 1899, it was established
under the name of Atlas and
initially concentrated on the production
of iron castings for the logging
industry in the thriving north-west of
the United States. In the 1930s, Atlas
shifted its focus to steel castings before
changing its emphasis in the 1950s to
the manufacture of pump housings for
use in pipelines, refineries and chemical
plants. During the 1980s the company
made turbines and compressors
its priority – and, some years later,
large high-strength alloyed steel castings
for offshore platforms. This product
portfolio has been extended to
include components made of HY-80
and HY-100 steel alloys for applications
on US Navy ships and submarines.
These high-tech materials can
withstand water pressures of over 700
metric tons per square meter. After
the acquisition of Atlas by the Bradken
engineering group, Bradken invested
in modern technologies in order
to maintain the Tacoma facility’s
leading position in the production of
high-quality castings. Today, the plant
produces castings for the energy sector
– and other industries – such as turbine
components, pumps, valves, compressors,
and hydropower generators with
a net weight of up to 25 metric tons.
( Figure 1)
48 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

The system evaluation process
Since the production of growing volumes
of high-quality castings, complete
and consistent quality control
became increasingly important. This
made faster and full-field measuring
and inspection methods necessary.
Those methods not only had to cope
with the requirements, but also needed
to handle complex geometries and
dimensions of up to 4.5 m. When performed
with the conventional coordinate
measuring machines on articulated
arms, shape and dimensional
control of these components took several
weeks. The problem encountered
in the past was that, each time the arm
had to be repositioned, errors occurred
in the calculation of coordinates of
overlapping areas. Moreover, the applied
measuring system was difficult
to operate. As a result, tactile measurement
had its limitations in terms of the
throughput of parts that could be measured
internally by Bradken. Also, larger
castings with tight tolerances could
not be measured at all with the measuring
system on articulated-arms, so
that their inspection by means of a laser
tracker had to be contracted out.
Consequently, in order to enable inhouse
inspection at its Tacoma facility,
Bradken needed to invest in more efficient,
flexible and reliable 3-D metrology
systems designed to allow complete
measurement of large and complex
castings. In an extensive selection process,
various metrology systems such as
3-D laser scanners, hand-held 3-D laser
scanners, laser trackers and 3-D scanners
with Blue Light Technology were
tested on large, machined domed castings
intended for use on a production
line for transport containers. Because of
their small scanning range and limited
scanning distance, the 3-D laser scanner
and the hand-held 3-D laser scanner
led to difficulties in capturing the
large domed castings and, in fact, only
managed to scan less than 25 % of the
casting in one working shift. Furthermore,
the requested 1.5 mm surface
tolerance was not met, and the handheld
3-D laser scanner revealed ergonomic
difficulties and proved unsuitable
for prolonged use. While the laser
Figure 1: Tests conducted in Tacoma
demonstrated that, within 8 h, ATOS
Triple Scan, an optical 3-D fringe projection
scanner, was able to deliver
precise scans with the specified tolerances
along with an extensive analysis
of the complete casting
tracker enabled precise measurement
of the domed casting, it had poor resolution
(only few points), delivering
insufficient data for complete surface
measurement. The most compelling
Figure 2: Blue Light Technology, the narrow-band blue light of the projection unit, allows measurements to be taken
independent of ambient lighting conditions and better scanning of shiny surfaces
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 49

SPECIAL
Figure 3: The measurement data can be analyzed immediately and compared
directly with the CAD data. Deviations to CAD are highlighted in color and
problematic areas are easy to recognize, enabling specific improvements to
be made to the manufacturing process
argument against the use of the laser
tracker, however, was that the results
varied between operators.
Faster inspection
In the end, Bradken chose the ATOS
Triple Scan from GOM, an optical 3-D
fringe projection scanner equipped
with measuring cameras with high
resolution of up to 12 megapixels
(Fig ure 2). Tests conducted in Tacoma
demonstrated that, within eight
hours, ATOS was able to deliver precise
scans with the specified tolerances
along with an extensive analysis of the
complete domed casting. Other key
criteria in Bradken’s decision included
the flexible range of different measuring
volumes and simple handling. Another
plus offered by the ATOS Triple
Scan is the Blue Light Technology (Figure
3). The narrow-band blue light of
the projection unit allows the scanner
to perform measurements independent
of ambient lighting conditions
and better scanning of shiny surfaces.
ATOS Triple Scan is a 3-in-1 sensor
system: It uses the right and left cameras
individually in combination with
the projector. This new method results
in three individual sensors each with
different viewing perspectives of the
object, so that three views instead of
one are captured during a single measurement.
This means that the number
of individual scans is significantly
reduced, even when scanning complex
parts. Scanning in deep pockets is a further
advantage offered by this solution.
Unlike conventional tactile coordinate
measuring systems (which scan only
individual points) or laser scanners
(which analyze measurement data for
specific sections), optical 3-D metrology
systems such as ATOS capture the entire
surface of the Bradken castings. This
is done by applying the principles of
triangulation: Using a projector, fringe
patterns are projected onto the object to
be measured and captured by two cameras.
In this manner, millions of measuring
points with precise details can be
obtained in a few seconds by non-contact
measurement. Using the information
thus gathered, the ATOS software
automatically determines the 3-D coordinates
in the form of a high-resolution
point cloud (ASCI/STL).
The generated polygon mesh describes
freeform surfaces and primitives
which can, during shape and dimensional
analysis, then be compared with
the drawing or directly with the CAD
data (Figure 4). Bradken’s engineers are
thus able to instantly identify dimensional
deviations in the on-screen color
plot, thus providing substantial time
savings for the Tacoma-based foundry.
In addition to the ATOS Triple Scan,
Bradken also uses the mobile Tritop
photogrammetry system to improve
the dimensional accuracy of large
castings and assemblies such as turbine
housings. To enable point-based
coordinate measurement and deformation
analysis, photographs of the
component are taken from different
angles. Having incorporated the GOM
metrology systems into its inspection
processes, Bradken is now able to measure
large and complex components
as well as mounted assemblies – capturing
the complete object, meeting
tight tolerances and working within
appropriate time limits. As a result,
the foundry’s investment has paid off
faster than originally expected. Inspections
no longer need to be outsourced,
delivering additional cost savings.
Less rework due to the combination
of simulation and 3-D
measurement
Since the introduction of GOM metrology
solutions, Bradken has managed to
reduce rework significantly, and to optimize
and accelerate its production processes
overall. Large objects in particular,
such as gas turbine housings, may
experience severe deformation or distortion
during the cooling process. In
order to predict the resulting loads,
Bradken uses the Magmasoft casting
simulation software. In this context,
it was important for Bradken to be able
to relate the actual dimensional deviation
to the calculated results. This was
possible thanks to the measurement of
the individual castings with the ATOS
and Tritop systems. Based on the measuring
results, the pattern was modified
in such a way that the new casting
could be manufactured with the correct
dimensions right from the very start.
The combination of simulation and
3-D measurement speeds up manufacturing
processes because it enables the
foundry to avoid time-consuming rework,
this being otherwise necessary to
achieve the requested tolerances. Without
the ATOS and Tritop metrology systems
it would not have been possible to
check object surfaces and geometries
during the search for the best solution.
www.gom.com
50 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

K NEWS
EUROGUSS
Europe’s meeting place for the
die-casting sector
“Good luck” is the message from 12 to
14 January 2016 at Euroguss in Nuremberg,
Germany. Once again, the international
die-casting trade fair has a great
deal to offer: the latest technology, processes
and products on the exhibition
stands presented by total of around 550
exhibitors, the “Forschung, die Wissen
schaf(f)t” special show, (“Research for
Knowledge”) the new “Oberflächentechnik”
Pavilion (“Surface Technology”),
specialist presentations and current
trends and developments in the
congress along with the award presentation
ceremonies for the two aluminium
and zinc die-casting competitions. The
total of around 11,000 expected trade
visitors are decision-makers from the
automotive industry, machinery and
equipment construction, the electronics
industry, energy and medical technology
sectors along with die-casting
foundries.
“Euroguss is continuing on its course
of growth”, says a delighted Heike Slotta,
Director Exhibitions, from NürnbergMesse.
“Already in 2014, with 470
exhibitors, we registered a substantial
increase of over 20 %. 2016 we are expecting
around 550 exhibitors. This
proves: the exhibition concept is absolutely
spot on, the demand for die-casting
products is continuing unbroken.”
In order to offer all exhibitors sufficient
space, the previous exhibition Halls 7
and 7A have now therefore been joined
by Hall 6.
Around half the Euroguss exhibitors
are international. After Germany with a
big gap, the list of the most important
exhibiting countries from Europe is
headed by Italy followed by Turkey,
Austria, Switzerland, Spain, France and
Slovenia. The exhibitors are die-cast
foundries along with their suppliers,
equipment suppliers and service-providers.
At the fair they will be showing
die-cast products, technology along
with machinery, peripheral appliances,
furnaces, molds, prototyping, metals,
alloys as well as release agents and operating
materials. Apart from this there is
At the Euroguss trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany, in January 2016 around
550 exhibitors are expected, a clear increase to 2014 when 470 exhibitors
attended the major die-casting event (Photos: NürnbergMesse)
also a range of products covering the
post-treatment of die-cast parts, quality
assurance, control and drive technology
along with software. Information on
the exhibitors, pro ducts and hall layout
plans is available on the Internet at
www.euroguss.de/exhibitors-products.
The Research for Knowledge special
show has now already been held for the
third time at the fair. In Hall 7, Stand
642, around 10 research institutes, universities
and technical colleges will be
providing an insight into their latest
projects, presenting their services and
research focal points, main research areas
and also showing their range of
training and further training options
and opportunities. Among those participating:
» Neue Materialien Fürth
» Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik
und Angewandte Materialforschung
(IFAM, Fraunhofer Institute
for Manufacturing Technology
and Advanced Materials)
» Lehrstuhl Werkstoffkunde und Technologie
der Metalle (WTM, Chair of
Metals Science and Technology)
» Fraunhofer-Entwicklungszentrum
Röntgentechnik (Fraunhofer Development
Centre for X-Ray Technology)
» Verein für praktische Gießereiforschung
(Association of Practical
Foundry Research)
» Hochschule Aalen Gießereilabor
(University of Aalen, Foundry Laboratory)
» Universität Kassel Fachgebiet Gießereitechnik
(University of Kassel, Faculty
of Foundry Technology)
The post-treatment and coating of functional
and highly durable die-cast parts
is a key theme for die-cast foundries.
Corresponding machinery and process
technology ensure a high-quality finish
for die-cast product surfaces. Deburring,
grinding, polishing, coating or finishing
are the corresponding processing
cycles. For the first time, a separate exhibition
area and pavilion will be dedicated
to this special topic. Here, suppliers
in the areas light metals-processing
and finishing will be presented.
The specialist presentations delivered
by the International German Die Casting
Congress on all three days of the fair
are very popular with the trade fair visitors.
The forum, which is positioned at
the heart of the fair action in Hall 6,
provides a good opportunity to enter
into an exchange with colleagues and
experts on current sector themes and
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 51

K NEWS
developments. The “Innovative tempering
concepts for die-casting mold design”
and “Industry 4.0 – Influence of
digitization on future production in
foundries” are just two examples of the
exciting presentation themes at the
next Die Casting Congress. The full programme
will be available from November
on the internet at www.euroguss.de.
The organisers of the specialist congress
are Verband Deutscher Druckgießereien
(VDD, Association of German Pressure
Die-Casters) and Bundesverband der
Gießerei-Industrie (BDG, German
Foundry Association). Participation at
the Congress is included in the fair admission
charge.
The announcement of the winners of
the Aluminium Die-Casting competition
is eagerly anticipated. The aim of
the competition is to demonstrate the
high quality standard of aluminium diecast
products to the public. Die-cast
parts submitted by the customers and
own foundries will be assessed and then
presented awards by a jury of experts
from the areas of research and practical
applications. The three best submissions
will be awarded certificates and
presented at the fair on the BDG/VDD
stand in Hall 6, Stand 6-428. The award
presentation ceremony will be held
within the framework of the opening
ceremony on the eve of the fair. The
competition is being staged by the Gesamtverband
der Aluminiumindustrie
The trade fair offers the most sophisticated die-castings that are technically
feasible
e.V. (GDA, German Aluminium Association).
Especially outstanding zinc die-cast
parts are to be honoured by the Initiative
Zink in the Zinc Die-casting Competition.
These parts fulfil either special
requirements placed on construction,
design, mould design, die-casting technology,
processing, surface treatment
and/or decorative characteristics, or
distinguish themselves through an innovation
and/or by switching from
other materials or production processes
to zinc die-casting. The aim of the competition
is to present the diversity of
applications, the outstanding characteristics
of zinc die-casting and not least
the efficiency of the participating
foundry companies. The award presentation
will also be held within the
framework of the official opening ceremony
on the evening of the fair. Further
information on the award winners
and their products is available from the
Initiative Zink at Euroguss in Hall 6,
Stand 6-420.
www.euroguss.de
CAN-ENG
Automated system for heat
treatment of structural parts
CAN-ENG Furnaces International Limited,
Niagara Falls, Canada, is a leading
designer and manufacturer of thermal
processing equipment for ferrous and
non-ferrous metals. The company focuses
on the development of high volume
continuous industrial furnaces
for challenging applications and is the
industry leader in the development of
automated heat treating systems for
the processing of thin-walled, lightweight
aluminum automotive structural
components.
The furnace manucturer has been
contracted to design, manufacture and
commission an automated system for
the heat treatment of thin-walled high
pressure die-cast aluminum automotive
structural components by an innovative
automotive manufacturer located
in California. The company was
chosen for this new light-weighting
project because its flexible, cost effective
heat treatment technology allows
manufacturers to integrate new stateof-the-art
processing systems into existing
manufacturing cells, avoiding
prohibitive large-scale continuous processing
systems capital costs.
The new high volume heat treating
system for thin walled aluminum automotive
structural components includes
a solution furnace with customized
structural product fixtures, CAN-ENG’s
Precision Air Quench (PAQ) system, an
artificial aging system and controls integrated
into a Level II SCADA system.
The system integrates a unique combination
of recirculating air chambers,
distribution nozzles, dampers and directional
ductwork that uniformly delivers
conditioned quench media leading
to repeatable and uniform property
and dimensional results. Quench parameters
are developed for each component
and once validated can be integrated
as part of the product recipe.
www.can-eng.com.
52 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

KSB GROUP
New foundry in Grovetown
inaugurated
The pump and valve manufac turer KSB,
Frankenthal, Germany, is investing
about 75 million US-dollars (70.1 million
euros) in its US site in Grovetown,
Georgia, of which 40 million US-dollars
(37,4 million euros) are going to the new
foundry.
Investments in the KSB subsidiary
GIW Industries are to prime the site to
meet the mining industry’s rising global
demand for white cast iron pumps.
Opened in April 2015, the new facility
has been fully operational since this
summer and extends to about 4,650 m 2 .
It houses new heat treatment and melting
furnaces, sand silos and six cranes.
The production building of 22 m ceiling
height is particularly suitable to
make components for the large slurry
pumps manufactured at the site. The
The foundry of 22 m ceiling height is particularly suitable to make components
weighing up to 20 t for large slurry pumps (Photo: GIW Industries)
new foundry’s capacity exceeds 9,000 t
of castings per year, with some of them
weighing up to 20 t.
At the Grovetown and Thomson sites,
GIW Industries manufactures mostly
heavy-duty pumps and associated
equipment for the mining industry. The
centrifugal pumps are built to transport
a mix of rocks and water and are used in
various settings, ranging from mineral
processing to waste water treatment.
The company currently employs 614
people and has been part of the KSB
Group since 1988.
www.ksb.com
NEW:
TOTAL THERMAL
VISION NETWORK
VISIT US AT
EUROGUSS 2016
HALL 7A
STAND 616
Competence in
Shot Blast Technology
We offer new and second-hand
wheel blast machines including
conveyor and filter systems.
We are looking forward to your visit at
EUROGUSS in Nuremberg,
January 12-14, 2016, hall 6, both 6-342
Our range of products and
services include:
• Wear and Spare Parts
• Repair and (remote) maintenance
• Services
… for wheel blast machines of
other makes as well.
AGTOS
Gesellschaft für technische
Oberflächensysteme mbH
Gutenbergstraße 14
D-48282 Emsdetten
Tel. +49(0)2572 96026-0
info@agtos.de
www.agtos.com
207-11/15-4c-GB
Baraldi_85_128.indd 1 16.11.15 09:57
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 53

K NEWS
ASK CHEMICALS
Acquisition of Hexion’s European
foundry business
The foundry chemicals group ASK
Chemicals, Hilden, Germany, has purchased
the European foundry business
of Hexion Inc., Ohio, USA. With this
acquisition the company has broadened
its portfolio of foundry chemicals
in the field of Alphaset phenolic
resins, Betaset phenolic resins and furan
resins.
ASK Chemicals and Hexion have
agreed on an intangible asset purchase
of Hexion’s European business book
and a long-term toll manufacturing
agreement, whereby Hexion will continue
to manufacture the products for
ASK Chemicals.
Both Hexion and ASK Chemicals are
committed to ensuring that the transition
of the business will be seamless.
Customers can trust that there will be
no changes in product, production or
contractual terms. “This acquisition is
an important step in our growth strategy.
With these new products ASK
Chemicals is able to offer our customers
an even broader portfolio of no-bake
and furan resin,” states Frank Coenen,
Chief Executive Officer of ASK Chemicals.
“We will introduce the world-leading
products of the Alphaset family to a
wider foundry market.” Alphaset products
are especially known for their superior
technical and environmental performance
in the field of no-bake
binders.
www.ask-chemicals.com
AGTOS
Turbine-wheel blasting technology
for foundries
At the Euroguss exhibition in Nuremberg,
Germany, from 12th – 14th January
2016, AGTOS shows how work pieces
are deburred and get an adequate surface.
The focus here is on process reliability
and economic operation.
The company from Emsdetten, Germany,
disposes a complete range of
products for surface engineering in
foundries. In addition it offers second-hand
shot blast machines and
spare parts as well as service for machines
of various other suppliers. The
retrofitting of existing machines with
for example magnetic air separators for
the separation of abrasive and sand are
also part of the product range.
For the treatment of sensitive (diecast)
parts the mechanical engineering
company developed a complete series of
wire mesh belt shot blast machines. This
type of machine is very popular. The
advantages will be explained by means
of many typical applications.
Besides the acquisition costs the operational
costs are an important subject
when investing in a shot blasting machine.
They are highly influenced by
the costs for wear and spare parts. The
choice of the material and the quality of
the material play an important role in
this. Costs can be reduced in this area by
making the parts, like e.g. steel belt traverses,
if technically sensible, more durable,
easier to mount using innovative
Cast parts in front of an AGTOS wire mesh belt shot blasting machine (Photo:
AGTOS)
manufacturing methods and materials
thus economically producing the parts.
Aside from that the accessibility to the
machine is decisive.
Operators who are interested in second-hand
machines will also make a
find. The shot blasting machines of various
manufacturers are examined, defects
are professionally eliminated and
the machines are brought up to the state
of the art regarding the technology.
For the machine and plant manufacturer
AGTOS service starts with advisory
service and sale and by far does not end
with the maintenance-friendly design
of the machines. The company cordially
invites all visitors at the expo to convince
themselves during personal conversations
or by a visit of the informative
website in advance
www.agtos.de
54 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
FAE
Measurement of molten steel
and cast iron level
Since 1976 Fae, Milano, Italy, has been
proposing solutions with the use of
sensor technology. The recent experiences
have given excellent measurement
results also on molten cast iron
and steel levels.
Particularly by using the LS1502 Laser
Rangefinder, it was possible to measure
the molten cast iron level at
1,470 °C, even without slag, with centimeter
accuracy, whereas on a ladle
containing molten steel at 1,650 °C the
measure turned out to be reliable in
presence of a thin slag layer.
Fae is ready to examine the best solution,
including the environment protection
accessories according to the
specific plant.
www.fae.it
Measures carried out on a Ladle containing molten steel at about 1,650 °C
through the Laser Rangefinder type LS1502.100IR at 3,500 mm’s distance
with about 30° inclination (Photo: Fae)
The Key to Casting
Industry Suppliers 2015
Titel Key_Casting 2014.fh11 23.05.2013 12:35 Uhr Seite 1
The KEY to Casting Industry and Suppliers 2014
The KEY
to Casting Industry
and Suppliers THE KEY
TO CASTING INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS
2015
ISBN 978 - 3 - 87260 -180 - 3
Kostenloses
Freiexemplar
2014
2015 · 14,8 x 21,0 cm
Probedruck
Der KEY to Casting Industry
and Suppliers 2015 ist ein
komprimiertes Nachschlagewerk
in englischer Sprache zur
Navi gation durch die internationalen
Beschaffungsmärkte
für Gießereien.
Giesserei-Verlag GmbH
Postfach 102532 · 40016 Düsseldorf
Tel.: +49 211 6707- 561 · Fax: +49 211 6707- 547
E-Mail: annette.engels@stahleisen.de
The_Key_to_Casting_1_4_Seite_P.indd 1 26.11.15 13:54

K BROCHURES
Products for light metal casting processes
40 pages, English
A catalogue of the wide range of products offered by Schäfer Metallurgie for light
metal casting processes, e.g. coatings and agents for cleaning, dross treatment,
grain refining, skimming, improving the feeding behaviour and influencing the
thermal conductivity. Each product is described in great detail.
Information: www.schaefer-metallurgie.de
Ladle technology
16 pages, English
A brochure outlining the range of casting, transport and treatment ladles offered
by Marx. Technical data are provided of each ladle type and of the available gearbox
series, complemented by technical drawings and pictures. Also wire treatment
plants are included in the brochure.
Information: www.marx-gmbh.de
Molding sand preparation plants
10 pages, English
A detailed brochure describing the range of sand preparation equipment offered
by Webac. Included are descriptions of sand mixers, binder injection solutions, return
sand coolers, batch coolers, screens, aerators and plant control systems.
Information: www.webac-gmbh.de
Foundry equipment
12 pages, English, German
A highly informative and illustrative brochure setting out the range of foundry equipment
offered by Klein Anlagenbau. The brochure covers equipment for pneumatic
conveying, core sand preparation and peripheral equipment, providing key technical
data, advantages, pictures and concise descriptions of the equipment.
Information: www.klein-ag.de
56 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

Abrasives
64 pages, English, German
A comprehensive catalogue covering abrasives offered by Kuhmichel for blasting,
peening, grinding, sanding cutting and surface preparation. The abrasives range
from white and brown fused alumina, mixed alumina, blast bauxite, emery, garnet
sand, silicon carbide through to glass and ceramic beads, steel shot and grit, iron
grit, cut wire shot and nutshell granules.
Information: www.kuhmichel.com
Measuring technology for melting and holding equipment
28 pages, English
A brochure featuring measuring and diagnostic systems manufactured and distributed
by Saveway. The systems are used for refractory linings and other components of
melting, holding and treatment equipment. Applications include hot spot and wear
monitoring, leakage monitoring, monitoring of coil-shunt insulation, temperature
measurement, etc.
Information: www.saveway-germany.de
Foundry conveyors
4 pages, English
A concise brochure outlining conveying equipment manufactured by JML for sand
preparation in foundries. Typical conveyors built by the company include belt conveyors
and special steel belt conveyors for material more than 200 °C hot as well as
roller conveyors. Contains key technical data and pictures of the equipment.
Information:www.jml-industrie.com
Aluminium casting process
8 pages, English
A brochure presenting the line of plants and machinery manufactured by Sinto for
aluminium casting. Machinery is offered for all process stages from core and die
making, casting, cooling, sand removal and reclamation through to deburring and
finishing. The brochure includes technical data and special features of the presented
equipment.
Information: www.sinto.com
Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 57

K INTERNATIONAL FAIRS AND CONGRESSES
Fairs and Congresses
Euroguss 2016
January, 12-14, 2016, Nürnberg/Germany
www.euroguss.de
5th International Foundry Conference & Exhibition
January, 26-29, 2016, Teheran/Iran
http://rastak-expo.com
1st International German Molding Material Forum 2016
February, 16-17, 2016, Duisburg/Germany
www.formstoff-forum.de
Metal & Steel Middle East 2016
February, 18-20, 2016, Cairo/Egypt
www.metalsteeleg.com
IFEX 2016: 12th International Exhibition on Foundry
Technology, Equipment, Supplies and Services
January, 29-31, 2016, Coimbatore/India
www.ifexindia.com
+ + + + + + + JUST BEFORE THE EDITORIAL DEADLINE + + + + + + + JUST BEFORE THE EDITORIAL DEADLINE
Bright World of Metals
switches to three-year cycle
GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and
NEWCAST are switching to a three-year
cycle – the next time that the leading
international trade fairs for foundry
technology, metallurgy, thermo process
equipment and castings will be
taking place in Düsseldorf, Germany,
is from Tuesday, the 26th until Saturday,
the 30th June 2018. In taking this
decision, Messe Düsseldorf is responding
to the changes in the innovation cycles
within the industry. Messe Düsseldorf
Director Joachim Schäfer: “Trade
fairs are a reflection of the markets and
at the same time provide an insight
into industrial trends and developments.
As a partner to the industry and
in close liaison with its associations, it
is our mission to react to changes and
to create the appropriate platforms for
good business and cutting-edge innovations.”
There has been widespread approval
of the switch to a different cycle in
the sectors covered by the event too.
Dr Ioannis Ioannidis, CEO of Oskar
Frech GmbH & Co. KG: “With digitisation
and the rapid changes experienced
in networked business life,
trendsetting activities are becoming
increasingly important. It is essential
that the leading international trade
fair GIFA makes a major contribution
here by taking place at an appropriate
interval. The new 3-year cycle for the
“Bright World of Metals” is right in line
with this development.”
In the course of their history, the
four leading trade fairs have adapted
to the changes in their industries’
cycles on several occasions: GIFA,
which premiered in Düsseldorf in
1956, was initially held every six years
before it switched to a five-year cycle in
1974 and then to a four-year cycle at
the beginning of the millennium.
THERM PROCESS has taken place at
the same interval since 1974, while
METEC was added in 1979 and NEW-
CAST made up the quartet in 2003.
www.gifa.com
Advertisers‘ Index
AGTOS Ges. für technische 53
Oberflächensysteme mbH
American Foundry Society 43
Baraldi Srl 53
Bühler AG Uzwil 15
CAN-ENG Furnaces 21
FAT Förder- und Anlagentechnik GmbH 27
Giesserei Verlag GmbH 2, 55, 60
GTP Schäfer GmbH 43
Lucky-Winsun Enterpr. Co.Ltd 37
O.M.LER 2000 S.R.L. 55
Regloplas AG 11
RÖSLER Oberflächentechnik GmbH 25
58 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015

K IMPRINT
PREVIEW / IMPRINT K
Preview of the next issue
Publication date: March 2016
Selection of topics:
Georg Fischer employees with finished automotive structural castings in a die-casting
shop in the Austrian town of Herzogenburg (Photo: Warren Richardson)
Special: CHINA
R. Piterek: “Casting and e-mobility perfectly match”
A lot of money can be earned with the production of components for electric vehicles in the foundry industry. Foundry group
Georg Fischer has now received orders amounting to 50 million euros that fit very well into the product portfolio of the lightweight
construction specialist
O. Kramer: Winning new customers with modern molding technology
The bronze foundry Filthaut aims to sustainably produce quality castings that convince sophisticated customers in terms of reproducibility,
quality and price. That’s why the so-called FDNX-molding machine from Heinrich Wagner Sinto was involved in the
casting process
A. Gieniec: PEP SET – an efficient and environmentally friendly binder system
Foundries need to meet the highest quality requirements. The company Grunewald has taken account of these needs with a new
hall and ultramodern process technology in the molding shop and reclamation plant. In the course of this, together with ASK
Chemicals, an innovative PEP SET system has been developed
Imprint
Pub lish er:
Ger man Foundry As so ci a tion
Ed i tor in Chief :
Michael Franken M.A.
Ed i tor:
Robert Piterek M.A.
Ed i to ri al As sist ant:
Ruth Fran gen berg-Wol ter
P.O. Box 10 51 44
D-40042 Düsseldorf
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Casting Plant & Technology 4/2015 59

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GIESSEREI
VERLAG