CPT International 04/2016

www.giesserei-verlag.de 

December 

2016 

CASTING 

PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY 

INTERNATIONAL 

4 

Robust processes with 

casting process simulation

www.bdguss.de 

Call for Papers 

5 th International 

Cupola Conference 

CCS / Saarbrücken 

June, 22 – 23, 2017 

Foto: Küttner GmbH & Co. KG, Essen 

The deadline for submitting your abstract is 

set for December, 15 th , 2016 

To submit a paper, please provide a maximum 

300-word abstract along with the title of the paper, 

the speaker’s name and company / institute 

For further information please contact: 

Bundesverband der Deutschen 

Gießerei-Industrie (BDG) 

Simone Bednareck 

Hansaallee 203, 40549 Düsseldorf / Germany 

Phone: +49 (0) 211/6871-338 

Fax: +49 (0) 211/6871-40-338 

E-Mail: simone.bednareck@bdguss.de 

Contributions are invited 

in the following areas: 

> Raw materials 

> Metallurgy and melting process 

> Plant engineering 

> Control of process gases and 

detection 

> Energy efficiency 

> Emissions, environmental issues 

> Refractory materials 

> Holding furnaces 

> Modelling of processes

EDITORIAL K 

Light metal casting is enjoying 

a worldwide boom 

One year comes to a close, and another starts! One cannot really expect political 

stability on the global stage in 2017 in view of the unexpected election of 

Donald Trump as the next US President and a European Union weakened by 

Brexit. But this need not affect development of the world’s foundry sector – 

after all, Trump has promised to make the US economy strong again and to 

revive weak industries. Whether and when these promises will be kept remains 

to be seen. The announced US economic program, however, can only be a good 

thing for the world’s second-strongest foundry industry. Though a good position 

in the ranking of casting producers may be of little significance in the real 

world. Our author Douglas Trinowski has compared mold and core production 

by US casters with that of their colleagues in the EU and brings the statistics 

and rankings to life on P. 37. 

When examining the last two surveys by Modern Casting on global casting 

production (in 2013 and 2014) one common feature can immediately be seen: 

the quantity of aluminum castings produced is rising considerably – not that 

this is a great surprise given the developments towards light construction in 

the automotive and other sectors. 

Aluminum and other light metals also determine much of this issue of 

CASTING, whether in the form of an interview with the General Manager of 

the well-known die-casting machine producer Idra Riccardo Ferrario (from 

P. 6), an article on the innovative HZD zinc-casting foundry (which, thanks 

to its research, has created new materials and made interesting advances in 

functional integration, P. 20), or a report on the Swiss die-caster DGS Druckguss 

and its growth strategy for automotive structural castings (from P. 42). 

Then, among other things, there is an excellent article on the high-strength 

non-ferrous material Silafont-38 (P. 10) and a comprehensive specialist article 

on tungsten composite materials as mold materials for die casting, written by 

the Austrian Foundry Institute (ÖGI, from P. 24). 

One has already started celebrating Christmas in many parts of the world. I 

wish you a happy festive season in the names of all in the CASTING Editorial 

Office! Of more importance here, however, is the New Year’s festival that affects 

all of us – have a good new year and why not read CASTING again during the 

holiday period? 

Have a good read! 

Robert Piterek 

e-mail: robert.piterek@bdguss.de 

Casting Plant & Technology 4 / 2016 3

K FEATURES 

INTERVIEW 

Ferrario, Riccardo 

Idra is leader again 6 

MATERIALS 

Röders, Andreas; Röders, Gerd; Wiesner, Stuart 

Practical application of high-strengh alloy Silafont-38 10 

MOLDING MATERIAL 

Dahlmann, Martin; Umla-Latz, Sabine; Wolff, Joachim 

High performance molding material for most accurate castings 14 

MELTING SHOP 

Dahmen, Michael 

Smart energy-efficient water recooling system is successfully employed 

in induction melting plants 16 

PRESSURE DIE CASTING 

Piterek, Robert 

The courage to carry out research 20 

Cover-Photo: 

MAGMA Gießereitechnologie GmbH 

Kackertstr. 11 

52072 Aachen 

Tel.: +49 241 88901 0 

Fax: +49 241 88901 60 

info@magmasoft.de 

www.magmasoft.de 

Read our Article “Optimization of a brake caliper” 

with MAGMA-casting process simulation on page 34 ! 

Hofer, Peter; Gössl Wolfgang; Tucan, Klaus Peter; Gschwandtner, Reinhold; 

Schindelbacher, Gerhard; Schumacher, Peter 

Tungsten-based composites as a die material in high-pressure die-casting 24 

AUTOMATION 

Vollrath, Klaus 

The Olsberg foundry modernizes production of castings 30 

20 

30 

The pressure die-casting foundry Havelländische Zink-Druckguss 

GmbH & Co. KG is repositioning itself with innovative 

research, automation and digitalization (Photo: BDG/Piterek) 

The Olsberg foundry invested 11 million euros in new state-of-the-art 

plants for the production of iron castings. Heart of the investment is 

a powerful molding line which can meet high demands (Photo: HWS)

CASTING 

4 | 2016 

PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY 

INTERNATIONAL 

SIMULATION 

Wang, Houming; Wu, Shiguang 

Optimization of a brake caliper 34 

MARKETS 

Trinowski, Douglas 

Comparing moding and core making trends in the U. S. and 

EU casting industries 37 

COMPANY 

Vollrath, Klaus 

Aluminium structural castings: greater capacity for Europe‘s 

premium cars 42 

K COLUMNS 

Editorial 3 

News in brief 45 

Brochures 48 

Advertisers´ index/Fairs and congresses 50 

Preview/Imprint 51 

42 

DGS Druckguss Systeme AG, based in St. Gallen in Switzerland, is delivering large-format structural components for the hybrid 

body of Mercedes’ new C-Class. The next step is to build up production and logistical structures that meet the customer’s needs 

regarding development competence, component quality, production capacities and cost structures (Photo: Daimler AG)

K INTERVIEW 

Idra is leader again 

In the world of foundry, Idra stands for die casting; founded in 1946 by the Pasotti family, the 

company from Brescia has built its success on innovation and technological development becoming 

a point of reference since the 1960s, when the legendary “S” series represented the top 

for reliability, solidity and ease of use. At Travagliato establishment, near Brescia, an interview 

with CEO Eng. Riccardo Ferrario took place, a man of solid expertise in corporate turnarounds, 

with thirty years of experience in aluminium foundry 

Mr. Farrario, you have strongly rebuilt 

Idra. What is your summary today? 

When at the end of 2008 I was contacted 

to relaunch the company it seemed 

impossible to me that Idra was in difficulty, 

without orders and with negative 

perspectives; in fact, conditions 

of a potential revival could be seen. 

The majority of the company’s capital 

was acquired during the year by 

LK Machinery, an industrial giant listed 

on Hong Kong Stock Exchange and 

market leader in China for light alloys 

foundry, injection machines for 

plastic components and machining 

centers. LK held 70 % share capital, 

while remaining 30 % was controlled 

by Intesa Sanpaolo.The company had 

moved from the historic seat site to the 

new Triumplina to the new plant in 

Travagliato, just perfect for the production 

of small, medium and large presses. 

The brand was still strong, known 

throughout the world and its technology 

was even more valid. 

Riccardo Ferrario, General Manager of the Idra Group (Photos: Idra) 

But a very deep structural change was 

going on, to be evaluated very carefully, 

taking into account the characteristics 

of the control shareholder... 

In fact I spent a couple of months between 

account analysis and meetings 

with shareholders to understand their 

intentions and I decided to accept the 

challenge. The key moment was meeting 

Mr. Liù, founder and major shareholder 

of LK Machinery; I wanted to be 

sure first of all that LK’s objective was to 

relaunch and not to close the production 

activities in Italy. But Mr. Liù had 

clear ideas: he wanted to be the leader 

of “low cost” presses n the Chinese 

market, which already owned 60 %, and 

also dominate the entire product range, 

6 Casting Plant & Technology 4 / 2016

View into the production halls of 

Idra, where a lean, process optimized 

organization determines the production 

of the die-casting machines 

with Idra presiding over the segment of 

high-tech presses for high-performance 

components. All this could be achieved 

only by keeping two distinct brands: LK 

for low cost machines and Idra for highend 

ones. No mingling between the two 

realities, even at trade and finance network 

level. The market had to understand 

that LK was only playing the role 

of shareholder. We would never have 

sold Idra presses in our historical markets 

or in China if the customer had 

considered us “Chinese style”. 

And this is how the adventure began, 

at a time certainly not easy for the 

metallurgical and manufacturing industry 

in Italy and Europe. 

I took the lead of the company in April 

2009. I had to do it quickly and well, 

the shareholder had no time and results 

were expected to arrive soon to 

prevent diversions. I had a good brand 

and I had to have a good product. The 

rest would have been supported by 

the Chinese shareholder, Idra’s men 

and my knowledge in the field. I convinced 

the shareholder to invest in the 

completion of the new series of OLS 

presses in that year, the most difficult 

for our industry, and I focused on commercial 

markets where we could sell, 

China first of all. 

How did Idra achieve results immediately? 

As a matter of fact, I still remember 

the skepticism that hovered among 

departments when I said that already 

in 2010 we would have lost no money, 

because we had everything to succeed: 

brand, product, the thrust of “made in 

Italy” and perfect shareholders for our 

relaunch: an industrial group that understands 

our product and the second 

Italian bank to support us in relaunch. 

I was right, we were able to reach 

breakeven in just 18 months, eliminating 

nearly 8 million losses, and making 


K INTERVIEW 

profits by 2011. I’ll take the credit for 

bringing back confidence and enthusiasm 

in a magnificent group of people, 

the rest is thanks to them. With 

these results, all were convinced of 

the goodness of our choices, including 

trade unions. 

Certainly it hasn’t been easy to 

achieve competitiveness. 

It is true, Idra’s knowledge heritage 

was a security to create cutting-edge 

products, and perhaps it was more difficult 

to bridge the competitiveness 

gap on costs. Luckily I come from the 

school of the great Teksid of the ‘80s 

and I know that nothing happens by 

chance, but everything has to be conquered 

with fierce determination and 

great passion, starting from the people. 

When you start selling, that’s 

when the difficult part begins, the 

factory must follow you and adapt 

to new paces, quality must always 

be the focus of all choices and attention 

to induced costs and waste must 

be daily bread for everyone. Paying 

my dues in production for years has 

helped me, I could expect a lot from 

my coworkers because what I was asking 

them was what I used to do once. 

Zero business flights, spending review 

on everything, “lean organization” 

without intermediates, hunting for 

bottlenecks in the department to reduce 

lead time for deliveries in shorter 

times, outsourcing of non-core process 

steps. 

What about competition? 

Today it is not enough to produce well, 

you must offer a real competitive advantage 

to your customers, you have 

to think like them and offer them 

what they need to overcome their 

challenges. For example let’s consider 

after-sales service; we sell durable 

goods worth several some million 

euros, whose investment return relies 

heavily on production efficiency; in 

other words, machines should never 

stop and if they stop, we must be able 

to reactivate the operation in zero 

time. This is why we have focused on 

remote control service, which is done 

directly from Travagliato by tele-service, 

without the need for one of our 

technicians to go to our customer’s 

home, often flying hours from our 

offices. But this does not solve the 

problem, if the service is related to 

our Italian working time, so we created 

three service centers, one in Italy 

in our unique production site, one 

in USA in Idra NA North America subsidiary 

and a third in Idra China; so we 

can cover 24 hours. 

You have more than 9,000 presses 

running for more than 1,200 customers 

scattered in all parts of the world: 

how do you ensure them all timely 

assistance? 

Without inventing anything, but 

taking example from large multinationals, 

we created a mixed support 

network. We have three affiliates 

abroad controlled 100% by us, 

Idra NA North America, Idra Pressen 

in Germany and Idra China, and we 

have a number of Idra dealers in many 

countries, able to offer Idra qualified 

assistance. A presence that allows us 

to better meet any request for assistance. 

However, the secret is to make 

sure that the customer doesn’t call us, 

making him able to self-manage small 

problems. We don’t want to earn with 

assistance, nor have a customer who 

is a “prisoner”, always relying on us, 

we prefer having a competent customer 

that understands our presses 

and that manages them in complete 

autonomy with the best satisfaction. 

For this reason we teach our customers 

for free what to do; in 2011 we inaugurated 

ITC (Idra Technical Center) 

which provides free professional 

training courses to our clients. It’s a 

big investment in terms of resources 

and time, but it’s worth it because the 

customer tries to solve his problems 

with us and then he may apply what 

has been learnt at his home. 

You were talking about competitive 

advantage as the goal to be reached 

to sell your machines at remunerative 

prices. Can we take a deeper look into 

this topic? 

Our competitiveness arises from Idra’s 

approach to the market. When we ask 

the question: which car will our customer 

buy tomorrow, we immediately 

try to know which products he must 

provide for his end customers. In essence, 

it is no longer enough to focus 

on direct customer’s needs, but 

we need to be farsighted and analyze 

which pieces the client will produce 

in the near future. Without this vision 

we may set wrong strategies. Let’s consider 

a very simple case: does it make 

sense to develop a more advanced 

press for the production of aluminium 

radiators? Maybe not, maybe it’s useful 

to invest elsewhere. At Idra we had 

correctly evaluated the enormous development 

of structural components 

in light alloy castings in the field of 

transport, and in advance of competition 

and the current market boom 

in 2010 we produced NoX presses (no 

oxidation), able to work in high vacuum 

conditions; without contact with 

air aluminum can’t oxidize, and so 

castings will not contain inclusions 

of oxide or air entrapment, therefore 

it can be subjected to heat treatment 

to improve its mechanical properties, 

as required by the designers of new 

bodies and suspensions of cars. And 

what’s more, demand is now directed 

towards products with increasingly 

thin walls, from 4 to 2 mm or less, 

and so we have developed an injection 

system that can develop more than 

10 m/s speed in second phase also for 

presses of more than 4,000 t, in such a 

way that the alloy fills the mold cavity 

very simply. And today the market 

rewards us, just think about the 

Ford Mondeo’s hatchback which is 

produced only on Idra presses, or the 

Mini’s knee blocker and the Range 

Rover’s front. 

Concerning the market outlook for 

quality castings for the automotive 

sector, there aren’t only structural 

components, we also remember 

continuous lightening of the engine, 

which has focused the attention of designers 

on light-alloy engine blocks; 

do you have any developments and 

news in this specific sector? 

Today Idra has more than 100 presses 

that produce light-alloy engine blocks 

in all major car producing countries, 

but I must say that we are particularly 

proud for the order received from 


Teksid from Fiat-Chrysler Group at 

the end of 2013 as unique supplier 

of new engine blocks for Italian and 

Brazilian factories of the group. The 

match was not easy: Fiat-Chrysler has 

compared the best press manufacturers 

and thoroughly analyzed all technical 

and service aspects before making 

its choice. There is no doubt that 

other factors being equal, our technology 

and after-sales service, which 

are our flagship, have made the difference. 

One last point: Idra is now 100 % Chinese, 

with a unique shareholder that 

has taken over remaining 30% first 

owned by Intesa Sanpaolo. Aren’t 

you worried about this situation? 

In the light of my experience during 

the last five years, I can assure you 

that I am proud of this Italian business, 

owned by a Chinese company; 

it’s the clear proof that you can do 

business in Italy, despite difficulties. 

Funds are moved quickly from one 

side to another of the globe, it is important 

not to move production sites 

and, in our case, it’s important for 

Idra to keep thinking head and production 

in Italy; this is why we don’t 

worry, and results give us confidence 

in this respect, we must just remember 

that there are no situation rents 

and that success must be conquered 

day after day. China has represented 

Idra’s salvation, frankly if my predecessor 

hadn’t found a buyer willing 

to invest in the company, today we 

wouldn’t be here telling this small but 

significant piece of company history. 

Then we found on a silver platter the 

keys of the Chinese market, with directions 

on where and to whom to sell our 

products in the years of profound crises, 

I am referring to 2009 and 2010. 

Without all this we would not have 

had the necessary speed to balance our 

accounts in less than two years. And 

a good period awaits us, as long as we 

continue working on innovation and 

we maintain a positive gap compared 

to competition. 

www.idragroup.com 

Casting Plant & Technology 4/ 2016 9

K MATERIALS 

Authors: Gerd and Andreas Röders, G. A. Röders GmbH & Co. KG, Soltau; Stuart Wiesner, Rheinfelden Alloys GmbH & 

Co. KG, Rheinfelden 

Practical application of highstrength 

alloy Silafont-38 

The newly developed, high-strength alloy Silafont-38 was tested in a casting trial at the foundry 

G.A. Röders, Soltau, Germany. In a thin-section structural casting, the material properties were 

better than specified. Aspects examined in the context of the tests included the heat treatment 

practice, the metallurgical properties, riveting and welding behaviour as well as corrosion resistance 

of the alloy 

In lightweight engineering of structural 

components the requirements on material 

properties are becoming increasingly 

more exacting. One objective is to 

achieve increasingly higher strengths in 

order to build structures of ever smaller 

section thicknesses. As a result of 

optimizations in the pressure die casting 

process and heat treatment practice, 

the potential of the standard alloy 

AlSi10MnMg has been continuously 

widened. By modifying the alloy and 

applying new heat treatment methods, 

it is possible to even further expand the 

applicability of this alloy. 

The tested part 

The tests were made on one of the structural 

parts, which the foundry G. A. Röders 

makes for Fastner Leicht metalltechnik, 

Ilsfeld-Auenstein, Ger many, and which 

is used in the Audi R8. Figures 1a and 

b show the approx. 300-mm-long component. 

It must meet the specifications 

applicable to crash-relevant components 

with section thicknesses of up to 2.0 

mm. G.A. Röders produces this challenging 

casting in series using the alloy Silafont-36 

(EN AC-AlSi10MnMg). In addition 

to the relevant material properties, 

the part must provide good weldability. 

Thin-walled structural component made of a high-strength Silafont-38 alloy tested 

at G. A. Röders in a practical casting test (Photos and Graphics: Rheinfelden Alloys) 

The alloy 

When developing the alloy Silafont-38, 

special emphasis was placed on castability, 

which is more or less the same 

as that of Silafont-36. The contained 

zinc improves mold filling performance. 

The addition of iron and manganese 

reduces stickiness. Casting trials 

have confirmed the good casting properties 

of Silafont-38. Due to the alloy’s 

good flowability, there was a slight tendency 

towards greater flash formation. 

However, the results of X-ray examinations 

and blister tests were just as good 

as those obtained from Silafont-36. The 

increase in strength after a heat treatment 

is predominantly due to a magnesium-copper 

ratio, which suppresses the 

development of corrosive phases. Highmelting-point 

phases promote the formation 

of ultrafine eutectic structures. 

Heat treatment 

In its technology centre, the foundry 

Rheinfelden Alloys, located in southern 

Germany, casts different plates and 

a case with fins as test pieces. A comparison 

was made between material properties 

achievable in test plates of 3 mm 

thickness and in structural castings with 

extensive surface areas. While the similarities 

in mold filling of such plates 

and of large, high-quality structural 

parts were greater than expected, there 

were great differences in the quenching 

rates of the castings after removal 

from the molds and after the heat treatment. 

Small plates can be quenched 

at distinctly higher rates, with a corresponding 

effect on the material properties. 

For this reason, the heat treatment 

was modified such that the quenching 

conditions were very much like those 


Figure 1: Front (a) and back (b) of 

the component joined by rivets 

a 

b 

found in industrial manufacturing processes. 

Within the context of this simple 

modification, the maximum quenching 

rate was set at 3 °C/s. Figure 2 shows the 

temperature curves of 3-mm plates under 

different quenching conditions. The 

measured material values correspond 

largely to those measured in standardized, 

industrial production processes. 

Aluminium heat treatment specialists 

Belte AG, Delbrück, Germany, applied 

High Speed Air Quenching (HISAQ) and 

an Aluquench treatment. The HISAQ 

temperature curve, which was measured 

by a trailing element, is shown in 

figure 2. The Aluquench method uses 

a polymer as quenching medium. The 

corresponding temperature curve runs 

very close to that of water quenching. 

This method achieved very good material 

values. 

Material specifications 

The target was to achieve a yield 

strength of 180 N/mm² and an elongation 

at fracture of at least 8 %. With 

the casting technology developed at 

the G.A. Röders foundry, the material 

values were even better than specified 

(Figure 3). Plotted here are the mean 

values from approx. 50 tensile tests. 

G.A. Röders boasts vast knowhow in 

vacuum technology and in designing 

and producing casting molds. For the 

tests, only the alloy was changed, all 

casting parameters remained the same. 

Figure 2: Quenching tests 

Riveting and welding 

The strength of a material also has an 

effect on its rivet setting performance. 

Higher strength materials require different 

rivets than materials of lower 

strength. Therefore, the geometry and 

parameters of the rivets were adjusted 

to suit the properties of Silafont-38. 

Thanks to the high ductility of Silafont-38, 

the riveted joints are crack-free 

(Figures 1 a and b as well as Figure 4). 

The materials are joined by self-pierce 

riveting, i.e. semi-tubular rivets set by 

means of riveting tongs. G.A. Röders 

Figure 3: Material specifications of Silafont-38 

tested the weldability of the new alloy 

by a welding test during production. 

For the test, the respective area of the 

material was fusion-welded by tungsten 

inert-gas (TIG) welding and the surface 

of the thus produced welded seam investigated. 

Despite the zinc contained 

in the material, this test showed that 

weldability was just as good as that of 

the standard alloy Silafont-36. 


K MATERIALS 

Figure 4: Microsection through the rivet 

Figure 5: Microstructure in stage F 

Figure 6: Microstructure in stage T6 

Metallurgy and phase simulation 

Figures 5 and 6 show microsections 

of the part at a magnification of 500. 

The stage designated as “F” is characterized 

by an ultrafine eutectic structure, 

which provides fairly good formability 

already in the as-cast state. The 

intermetallic phases are very small (below 

10 µm) and evenly distributed. After 

a T6 heat treatment, the eutectic 

has a spheroized structure providing 

for high ductility. Figure 7 shows the 

quasistatic state simulated with the 

JMatPro software on the basis of the 

Calphad databases. The here presented 

phases are generally large enough 

to show in a micrograph. The Si-containing 

eutectic phase plays a central 

role in the alloy. A finely distributed 

AlMnFeSi phase (alpha) is required 

to achieve high ductility. Other highmelting-point, 

intermetallic phases 

influence the fineness of the microstructure. 

In the investigated alloy, the 

Mg2Si eutectic does not precipitate as a 

Figure 7: Quasistatic phase simulation 

major phase. Submicroscopic precipitations 

in the aluminium phase have a 

significant effect on the strength of the 

material. Such precipitations can also 

be calculated within the context of a 

phase simulation by JMatPro. Figure 8 

shows metastable MgSi phases, which 

are decisive for the strength properties 


of the material. The characteristics of 

such phases depend on the initial material 

state (as-cast or heat treated) and 

the quenching conditions. If those 

phases have the right size, they give 

the material high strengths. 

Corrosion resistance 

A salt spray test under alternating conditions 

(ISO 9227) and an intergranular 

corrosion test (ASTM G110-92) 

were conducted at the Steinbeis Centre 

in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The 

corrosive behaviour of 3-mm plates 

made of Silafont-38 was examined 

and compared with the corresponding 

behaviour of other alloys provided 

by Rheinfelden Alloys. Evaluations of 

336 hours of salt spray testing showed 

that the resistance to corrosion is appropriate 

and similar, for example, to 

that of Castasil-37 (AlSi9MnMoZr). 

While high-purity alloys predominantly 

corrode in the form of pitting, 

Figure 8: Dynamic phase simulation 

corrosion of Silafont-38 extends over a 

wider area. 

http://rheinfelden-alloys.eu 


K MOLDING MATERIAL 

Authors: Martin Dahlmann and Sabine Umla-Latz, Hüttenes-Albertus, Düsseldorf, and Joachim Wolff, Imerys Refractory 

Minerals, Paris 

High performance molding material 

for most accurate castings 

Complex cast parts such as turbocharger housings play a central role in the design of modern 

high-performance engines. Due to its particular characteristics silica sand has its limits as a molding 

material when it comes to casting finely structured components, reduced wall thicknesses 

and perfect surfaces. Thanks to its high temperature load strength and a strong resistance to 

metal penetration, Kerphalite KF, a special sand, has proven itself suitable for these types of applications 

in many foundries 

In central Europe, silica sand is available 

in large quantities and in good 

qualities, and is widely used in foundries 

as an economical basic molding 

material. But it also has negative properties, 

which may lead to problems 

when producing sophisticated castings. 

These particularly include the socalled 

quartz inversion, i.e. the abrupt 

expansion of the specific volume at 573 

°C. It occurs during virtually every casting 

process and may lead to sand expansion 

defects, mainly in the form of finning 

(also called veining). The molding 

material can crack under high temperature 

load, allowing liquid metal to seep 

into the resulting cracks and cavities. 

Suitable alternative for silica 

sand 

Foundries aim to avoid these casting defects 

and reduce the costly effort needed 

Andalusite mining in Brittany, France. The name Kerphalite derives from the 

Guerphalès deposit in Brittany (Photo: Imerys Refractory Minerals) 

to rework the casting. This is all the more 

important when considering that casting 

geometries are becoming ever more 

complex and the demands for their dimensional 

accuracy and surface quality 

are becoming ever more exacting. 

If foundries want to avoid using more 

binding agents or adding gas-forming 

additives, they need a suitable alternative 

to silica sand as a molding material. 

Kerphalite KF is a special sand with 

low thermal expansion, high refractoriness 

and a special grain geometry that 

enables very high core surface densities. 

Figure 1: Andalusite crystals in rock (Photo: C.A.R.R.D) 

Figure 2: The final product for use in the foundry in big 

bags (Photo: Hüttenes-Albertus) 


Mineralogical composition 

Andalusite 

Bulk density 

1.55 g/cm³ 

Refractoriness SK > 36 ≥1830 °C 

lin. expansion coefficient α 20- 600°C 6.5 · 10 -6 K -1 

Average grain size 

0.23 mm or 0.20 mm 

AFS Grain Fineness Number 60 ± 5 or 70 ± 5 

Grain form 

angular 

Core production 

with all binder systems 

Table 1: Properties of Kerphalite KF 

Figure 3: Sand core for a turbine housing 

(Photo: Harz Guss Zorge GmbH) 

From stalky crystals to a special 

sand 

Kerphalite KF is a natural material based 

on andalusite. Andalusite was first identified 

in 1798 and named after the Spanish 

province, Andalusia, though later 

this location turned out to be untypical 

for the mineral. In terms of its chemistry, 

andalusite is an aluminium silicate 

(Al 2 

SiO 5 

), which crystallizes in the ortho - 

rhombic crystal system and usually develops 

elongated, prismatic crystals with 

a square cross-section (Figure 1). 

When a water distribution network was 

built in the north of Brittany, France in the 

1960s, schist layers with aluminium silicate 

inclusions – andalusite – came to light. 

Today, Imerys Refractory Minerals 

mines treats and processes the andalusite 

in Brittany. The deposit is four kilometres 

south of Glomel and comprises several 

pits that are exploited in the form of terraces. 

Imerys Refractory Minerals mines 

about one million tons of stone per year. 

At the end of the multi-step and highly 

complex production process (breaking, 

grinding, separating, calcination and 

floatation), 80,000 tons of andalusite are 

extracted. Several thousand tons of Kerphalite 

KF are used as a special sand for 

foundry applications across the world. 

Processable with all binder systems 

and molding processes 

Kerphalite KF has a low density (similar to 

silica sand) and can be used in pure form 

or as blend with silica sand, as required. 

When blended, the share of Kerphalite 

KF should be between 30 and 100 %. In 

this way, the user is able to adjust the sand 

blend to be both cost-effective and process 

efficient. The special sand blends are 

easily processable with all common binder 

systems. They are suitable for the Cold- 

Box as well as for the shell molding process 

or the furan no-bake process – in iron 

as well as in steel castings. Kerphalite KF 

has also been used for 3-D printing cores 

for over ten years. 

Strong partnerships for success 

The partnership with Hüttenes-Albertus 

has been decisive for the development of 

Kerphalite as a special sand for the most 

accurate castings in the European foundry 

industry. In the mid-1980s, Hüttenes-Albertus 

added Kerphalite to its product 

portfolio, and has been actively promoting 

the material’s advantages as a molding 

material in the market ever since. HA’s 

expertise in core production technology 

as well as its extensive distribution network 

have contributed to establishing 

Kerphalite as a benchmark in the European 

foundry industry. Today, the special 

sand is used in a large number of foundries 

in Germany, France and many other 

European countries (Figure 2). 

Dense core surfaces, low thermal 

expansion 

There are two special properties that 

make Kerphalite KF a sought-after 

molding material for difficult casting 

jobs. First of all, the low and linear 

thermal expansion plays, of course, 

an important role as following example 

shows: A 400-mm-long canal core 

made of silica sand, if fully heated 

to a casting temperature of 1380 °C, 

would expand by a total of 9.3 mm. 

This means the core either develops 

thermal fatigue cracking resulting in 

finning on the casting, or it bends or 

breaks. However, when using Kerphalite 

KF as a molding material, the core 

would only expand by 3.8 mm under 

the same conditions. 

Secondly, the broken grains of the orthorhombic 

crystal with their angular 

cross section create a highly dense core 

or mold surface. This effectively helps to 

prevent the penetration of liquid metal, 

especially in comparison to cores that 

are produced from spherical sand grains 

of the same average grain size (Table 1). 

Proven applications in 

foundries 

Typical applications for Kerphalite KF are 

cores for hydraulic valve housings, canal 

and water jacket cores for cylinders and 

cylinder heads, also subsections of the 

water jacket core (as key core), as well as 

cores for the helical turbine housing of 

the turbochargers. In all of these cases it 

is important to create fine, thin-walled 

and dimensionally accurate casting parts 

with flawless surfaces. 

Foundries, such as Harz Guss Zorge, 

Zorge, Germany, and many others, rely 

on this special sand for casting turbine 

housings and cylinder heads. The casting 

has a complex geometry and has to 

withstand high thermal loads to fulfil 

its important function in the end product, 

the turbocharger. The turbine housing 

has to meet the highest quality standards 

in order to achieve effective flow 

behaviour. It is imperative to have a reliable 

procedure to avoid finning, because 

subsequent cleaning requires a lot of effort 

or re-work is impossible (Figure 3). 

When using Kerphalite KF as a molding 

material, foundries are on the safe 

side. They achieve a core with the lowest 

thermal expansion and the highest surface 

quality, able to withstand high casting 

temperatures even in the most critical 

areas: a core that meets all requirements 

for producing a perfect cast part for a 

high-quality, high-performance product. 

www.huettenes-albertus.com 

www.imerys-refractoryminerals.com 


K MELTING SHOP 

Author: Michael Dahmen, Otto Junker GmbH, Simmerath-Lammersdorf 

Smart energy-efficient water recooling 

system is successfully employed 

in induction melting plants 

For an induction melting furnace to operate safely, a powerful water cooling system must be in 

place to prevent overheating of the induction coil, the frequency converter and the capacitors. 

In this context, particular importance is attached to a low energy consumption of the cooling 

water pumps and fans of the air cooler or evaporative cooler as well as to the capability of recovering 

a large amount of heat from the cooling water 

Typical pump frames of a water recooling system for a high-performance melting plant 

(Photos and Graphics: Otto Junker) 

16 Casting Plant & Technology 4/2016

Thanks to numerous developments, 

induction furnace technology has 

reached a high overall level of efficiency. 

In cast iron melting, the efficiency 

rate may amount to as much 

as 75 % (Figure 1). 

Power dissipation occurs mainly 

in the form of ohmic losses from 

the coil and electrical system, whereas 

thermal losses are low. In cast iron 

melting these ohmic losses amount 

to approx. 20 - 25 % of the power input, 

while for copper the figure goes 

up to as much as 35 - 40 %. Thus, in 

a cast iron melting furnace with an 

8 MW power rating, the amount of 

power dissipated as heat will be in 

the order of approx. 2 MW. This high 

amount of waste heat must be reliably 

transferred away via a powerful 

water recooling system to maintain 

an appropriately low water temperature 

in the supply line. Needless to 

say, intense research efforts are being 

made to reduce ohmic losses further. 

Thus, reductions by 4 % and 9 

% have been achieved, depending on 

the metal being melted, through the 

use of a special coil design. 

A second option is to recover, and 

hence re-use, the large quantity of 

heat carried in the system’s cooling 

water. It should be noted here that 

heat recovery works best at an elevated 

cooling water temperature which 

should, moreover, remain as constant 

as possible. At the same time, 

the energy consumption of the cooling 

water pumps and of the fans serving 

the air cooler or evaporative cooler 

should be reduced. 

The basic parameters in rating a 

water recooling system are the water 

demand of the components to be 

cooled, the maximum supply and 

return temperatures, and the acceptable 

temperature rise. In some 

cases, two mutually independent 

closed cooling circuits are employed 

in view of the different water quality 

requirements for cooling the furnace 

and for cooling the electrical equipment 

(converter, capacitors). Often 

the furnace and the electrical system 

are served by one common cooling 

circuit, especially where IGBT converters 

are used. The water recooling 

system is dimensioned and its operating 

regime is designed for the full 

rated power of the melting furnace 

plus a defined safety margin. The acceptable 

temperature limits, which 

amount to 85 °C for the furnace coil 

and 45 °C for the electric circuit, 

must not be exceeded. 

As the cooling water pumps run at 

full speed regardless of the amount of 

heat actually dissipated, the system 

continues to deliver its full cooling 

output even in operating modes such 

as, e.g., holding the melt at temperature 

or shutting down the furnace. As 

a result, the return water temperature 

in the coil circuit will drop while 

the electric power demand remains 

unnecessarily high. The drawbacks 

of this former practice can be summarized 

thus: 

» varying return water temperatures 

» temporarily low temperature level 

» unnecessary power consumption 

of the pumps in the water recooling 

system 

The new approach 

Together, Otto Junker und Induga, 

both Simmerath, Germany, have 

developed the intelligent water recooling 

system referred to as SmartReCooler 

(SRC) which adapts its 

cooling output to the actual heat 

losses of the induction furnace installation. 

The system’s cooling output is 

proportional to the temperature rise 

and flow rate of the cooling water. It 

supplies just the right cooling water 

Figure 1: Typical energy flow diagram of a cast iron melting process 

throughput for the current cooling 

requirement, thereby maintaining 

return water temperatures constant 

and keeping the water recooling system 

energy-efficient. Pump speeds 

are determined by a smart controller. 

As the control unit also takes into 

account the furnace’s electric power 

input, the cooling system responds 

very quickly to new furnace operating 

conditions. 

In circumstances requiring only 

little heat to be removed, e.g., when 

the furnace is shut down and allowed 

to cool over several hours, the system 

runs in energy-saving mode. In this 

mode it keeps up a minimum water 

supply that suffices for all cooling 

circuits. The SRC system can respond 

autonomously to new heat loss sit- 

Casting Plant & Technology 4/2016 17

K MELTING SHOP 

Figure 2: SmartReCooler system screen 

uations at any time. In energy saving 

mode the cooling water pumps 

draw very low power, i.e., very little 

electricity is consumed. The energy 

saving potential depends very much 

on the furnace operating regime, i.e., 

on how long the furnaces are run in 

holding or cool-down mode or with 

reduced power input. 

At KSB AG, the leading manufacturer 

of pumps and pump systems, this 

new technology was used on one of 

two identically designed Monomelt 

furnaces with independent water recooling 

circuits which had been ordered 

for the company’s Pegnitz site. 

As one furnace plant featured the 

smart SRC system while the other 

was equipped with traditional water 

recooling, the benefits of the new system 

could be objectively evaluated. 

The furnaces are designed to melt 

both cast-iron and steel. Each of 

the two plants consists of a 2-tonne 

coreless induction furnace with an 

IGBT converter rated for 1,500 kW. 

The nominal frequency can be set at 

500 or 125 Hz. The installations are 

equipped with a JOKS melt processor, 

a weigh scale, extractor hoods 

and a hydraulic power pack. 

The water recooling system of 

each melting furnace has separate 

cooling circuits for the furnace and 

the electrical equipment and uses a 

glycol-free water-to-air cooler. The 

pump rack in the furnace circuit carries 

two 7.5 kW pumps operating in 

a redundant mode. The cooling cir- 

IMERYS 

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CASTING 

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PUB IRM FFA EXE OK.indd 1 05/01/2016 11:58:36 


cuit for the electrical equipment uses 

only one pump of the same rating. 

The water recooling system is controlled 

by the furnace PLC via a remote 

substation. 

The extra hardware to be fitted for 

the SRC system consisted only of 

the variable frequency drive units 

for the two furnace-circuit pumps, a 

few temperature sensors, and some 

small accessories. This was in addition, 

needless to say, to the new 

smart software developed for the application. 

This software ensures that 

the cooling water flow rate is adapted 

at once when the cooling water 

demand changes suddenly, e.g., because 

the furnace is set to full power 

by the operator or the load shedding 

system. A simple control scheme 

based on water temperatures alone 

had been found inadequate. Figure 

2 shows a typical screen menu, albeit 

for a solution based on a water-to-water 

cooler. 

A water-to-water cooler fed from 

the municipal water supply is fitted 

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in the electrical equipment cooling 

circuit for the event that the air temperature 

exceeds 30 °C and the water-to-air 

cooler can no longer adequately 

cool the more heat-sensitive 

converter assembly. For heat recovery, 

a plate-type heat exchanger is integrated 

into the circuit. 

By now the two Monomelt systems 

have been in operation for five 

months, and a first comparison between 

the traditional and new water 

recooling systems can be made. 

Considering the different service 

conditions of the two furnace systems 

it can be said that the variable-frequency 

drive units of the 

cooling water pumps save a lot of 

energy. Thanks to the use of the SRC 

the energy consumption of the water 

recooling system could be reduced 

by more than 30 %. 

Thomas Wagner of KSB AG’s Pegnitz-based 

foundry production engineering 

unit had this comment: 

“The scheme using VFD-controlled 

pumps in the cooling circuit has 

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proved a full success at our site. In the 

five months since the melting system 

was commissioned, we have benefited 

from a trouble-free operation and 

substantial energy savings. In our 

production conditions, we save so 

much power that the extra cost of 

frequency-controlling the cooling 

pumps will be recovered within just 

about one year. KSB AG now plans to 

retrofit the second coreless induction 

furnace, which does not yet feature 

frequency control of the cooling water 

pumps, to this new technology.” 

Moreover, the new system has led to 

higher and more constant water temperatures, 

which augurs well for the 

intended installation of a waste heat 

recovery system. 

Conclusion 

The smart SRC system has successfully 

proven itself in practice and the 

specified targets were achieved. The 

use of this control scheme clearly increases 

the energy efficiency of a water 

recooling system, apart from delivering 

a constant temperature that 

facilitates energy recovery. Further 

benefits include a rapid adjustment 

to the melting furnace’s operating regime 

plus an extended service life of 

cooling system components. In all, 

the economic benefits yield a short 

payback period. These advantages 

are confirmed by the fact that KSB 

AG now aims to convert its second 

melting furnace to this technology 

as well. 

It remains to be noted that a conversion 

of existing water recooling 

circuits to the new system can take 

place at short notice and with little 

installation effort. Work is now 

ongoing to realize this system for 

Duomelt applications as well (two 

furnaces, one frequency converter) 

and a solution for controlling the 

fans of the air cooler or evaporative 

cooler is in preparation. The system 

is also suitable for use on other water-cooled 

thermoprocessing equipment. 

www.otto-junker-group.com/de 

www.induga.com 

PUB IRM FFA EXE OK.indd 2 05/01/2016 11:58:40 


K PRESSURE DIE CASTING 

Author: Robert Piterek, Germany Foundry Association, Düsseldorf 

The courage to carry out research 

The pressure die-casting foundry Havelländische Zink-Druckguss GmbH & Co. KG in Premnitz, 

Germany, is repositioning itself for the future with innovative research, automation and digitalization. 

The company also wants to score with zinc as a light-construction material 

A casting cell at HZD in Premnitz: the company has 100 personnel working on the die-casting machines, in processing, 

in tool construction or in administration (Photos: BDG/Piterek) 

For some time now a tree with filigree 

zinc leaves has been standing at the German 

Foundry Association in Düsseldorf 

– on permanent loan from Havelländische 

Zink-Druckguss (HZD) in Premnitz, 

who used it to demonstrate their 

competence in thin-walled casting at 

the EUROGUSS trade fair in 2016. The 

innovative company has one particular 

aim: “the term ‘weight reduction’ 

should immediately be linked with 

HZD,” Oliver Ganschar, the new Works 

Manager of the zinc die-casting foundry 

in western Brandenburg, puts it in a nutshell. 

Ganschar and Commercial Manager 

Raiko Hentze have recently become 

the lead team of Petar Marovic, who last 

year became Managing Director of the 

foundry and started running it as the 

Managing Partner in 2016. 

The company has steadily grown 

since its founding in 1991: the workforce 

has increased to about 100 employees 

today – a success story for the 

structurally weak region on the River 

Havel. HZD currently produces about 

3,000 articles for roughly 200 customers, 

making 3,000 tonnes of zinc castings 

every year and increasing overall 

sales to a current level of 17.4 million 

euros. The zinc experts from Havelland 

share the market with companies such 

as HDO Druckguss- und Oberflächentechnik 

GmbH in Paderborn, Adolf Föhl 

GmbH + Co KG in Rudersberg-Necklinsberg, 

and G.A.Röders GmbH & Co. KG 

in Soltau. 

22 die-casting machines with clamping 

forces of between 7.5 and 200 tonnes 


are at work in the production hall, mainly 

models from foundry machinery constructor 

Oskar Frech. The personnel 

work in three shifts, producing castings 

made of the zinc alloys Z410 and Z430 in 

a weight range of between 0.1 g - 2 kg. 

The customers come from the automotive 

sector; the household appliances, 

plumbing, fittings and drives industries; 

locking technology and electrical 

engineering. 

Up to 40 castings are created with just 

one shot when the permanent molds of 

the die-casting machines close with a 

hydraulic hiss and the hot zinc is shot 

into the cavities. Batch sizes at HZD 

range from 50 to several hundred thousand 

units. Stay bearings, for example, 

that are used for tipping windows, are 

a classic of mass production. Either unmachined 

parts or finished components 

are delivered, depending on customer 

requirements. When necessary, the 

Premnitz-based company also sets up 

and manages the supply chain. 

At first glance, HZD is a completely 

normal company like numerous others 

in Germany. But something is different 

here. This can be seen straightaway 

from the many prizes that the SME regularly 

sweeps up in the Zinc Die-Casting 

Competition that is part of EURO- 

GUSS in Nuremberg. This year, it was 

second place for an in-house amplifier 

in the ‘Substitution using zinc die-casting’ 

category. A two-piece aluminum 

housing became a zinc component produced 

in one casting. The substitution 

also worked because the HZD design was 

able to achieve the necessary screening 

of the component (an in-house amplifier 

that enhances cable connections 

within buildings) in a less complicated 

way than its predecessor. A development 

reflected by the award. 

The functionality of this sensitive 

component was also assured by an innovative 

deburring process which the 

Oliver Ganschar (left) and Matthias Manns with the AMG gear lever made of 

Zincopor. The feel of the gear lever is decisive for luxury cars from Mercedes- 

-AMG 

zinc die-casters from Premnitz swear 

by: so-called cryogenic deburring, offered 

by Mewo GmbH in Olpe, during 

which components are cooled down 

to -40 °C with the help of liquid nitrogen 

(‘embrittlement’ in the jargon) and 

then blasted with a granulate – reliably 

removing the burrs without damaging 

the casting. The cycle is over after 3 - 

4 minutes. “The machine from Mewo 

is reliable, and indispensable when a 

casting is very thin-walled and there 

are very tight tolerances,” according to 

Ganschar. In addition to the cryogenic 

deburring plant, HZD also operates 

blasting units and centrifugal grinding 

HZD won second place in the Zinc Die- 

Casting Competition at EUROGUSS 

with this in-house amplifier. The sensitive 

component gets its finish using 

cryogenic deburring technology 



Mewo Sales Manager Ralf Sinner with Matthias Manns in front of a separating 

drum at the zinc die-casting foundry 

Matthias Manns and Ralf Sinner by the cryogenic deburring plant with which 

the in-house amplifiers are deburred. In front of them is the basket for bulk 

goods, manually inserted in the machines 

plants, and can carry out thermal deburring 

of components if required by 

customers. 

A few years ago the ingenious casters 

from Premnitz won first prize for 

‘surface finish’ at the Zinc Die-Casting 

Competition with a subassembly of 

control levers and mechanical elements 

for Bosch’s Tassimo coffee machine. 

Another prizewinning part is the 

C218 selection lever – a gear lever for 

an automatic transmission. This convinced 

both the jury and the customer, 

Mercedes-AMG. The Premnitz foundry 

won the prize for the production 

process with their innovative material 

Zinco por. “What mattered with this 

component was staying below a particular 

weight limit that would have been far 

exceeded if solid zinc had been used,” 

explains Ganschar. “A gear lever knob 

that was too heavy would be forced 

forward and trigger an unwanted gear 

change during a sharp braking maneuver 

because of the mass inertia. We were 

able to prevent this with our light-construction 

material Zincopor,” added the 

Manager, who enters triathlon competitions 

(swimming, cycling and running) 

in his free time. 

The patented material Zincopor is 

a so-called ‘zinc foam’. In a sectional 

view one sees numerous pores within 

the casting but the surface is smooth. 

“Weight reduction is the primary aim. 

We achieve serial weight savings of 

about 35 % using Zincopor,” explains 

Matthias Manns, Foundry Manager at 

HZD since the start of the year. Manns 

is an imposing figure: tall and strong, 

with a red beard braided into a plait and 

a tattoo in the form of a Celtic cross on 

one arm. One can well imagine him at 

medieval markets, forging swords – or 

casting zinc. “Mr. Seiler, the Technology 

Manager, and I do not need any 

name tags at trade fairs – people recognize 

us from a long way away,” he says 

laughing. 

Manns has already been at HZD for 

eleven years, working in the Technology 

Department for the last five years 

and therefore involved in the company’s 

spectacular new developments. 

Many other companies in the sector 

steer clear of making their own developments 

because such investments – without 

an ultimate customer order – might 

not pay in real terms. HZD, however, has 

consistently expanded its competences 

for casting very complex components 

and developing materials, with four 

developers in its Research & Develop- 


Measurement technician Alex examines a small electronic housing with the new optical profile projector from 

Keyence Deutschland GmbH, Neu-Isenburg, Germany 

ment Department – supported by the 

management. “Mastering complexity 

is our advantage. Our research concentrates 

on thin walls, precision and 

surface quality,” says Ganschar. And 

Manns adds: “We are also confident 

about developing small complex electronic 

products for which others have a 

lot of respect.” The courage to carry out 

their own research also involves a reasonable 

attitude to mistakes: “One has 

to be able to make mistakes when doing 

research, in order to develop new 

products – we learn from our mistakes,” 

Ganschar is convinced. Until recently 

he was also active as a research associate 

at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial 

Engineering (IAO) in Stuttgart. 

Ganschar has serious ambitions for the 

coming years. And change is necessary 

because there have also been changes in 

the fittings industry, one of the foundry’s 

largest target groups: what used to 

be a three-piece assembly is now made 

up of 15 pieces. In addition to product 

development, automation is very high 

on Ganschar’s to-do list: “We are introducing 

automatic casting cells and want 

to get into light-construction robotics, 

as well as low-sprue casting, and install 

automatic inspection stations,” he says, 

going through his list. He believes that 

zinc is a thoroughly future-oriented 

material, particularly because components 

for automotive construction are 

increasingly required to exhibit good 

EMC behavior, high strength, low production 

costs and good recyclability. 

“We therefore expect that demand for 

zinc components will increase sharply,” 

he reveals. The company also has 

expansion plans that extend beyond 

Germany. Ganschar does not want to 

go into detail here. But that is not all: 

HZD also wants to be part of the digital 

industrial revolution, i.e. Industry 4.0: 

“We would like a digital image of production 

so that we would always know 

where the product is, though we would 

still need workers as continuous problem-solvers. 

But their job profiles will 

rise in future so that they will be able 

to handle the increasing automation 

and digitalization,” he says thoughtfully. 

The gradual change in the company 

should not, however, become a burden 

for the employees. On the contrary, the 

company’s growth plan includes new 

recruitment by the end of this year. New 

personnel with foundry experience, an 

understanding for material, and enthusiasm 

for technologies and innovations 

are being sought. Five apprentices are 

currently being trained as machine and 

plant operators, clerks or logisticians. 

The workforce itself will undergo continuous 

training so that the processes 

become more efficient and productive 

– because in Premnitz, too, no-one can 

do without the scarce resource of skilled 

workers! 

www.hzd.eu 



Within the framework of a research project measures were taken to investigate the local microstructure improvement 

of die-casting components (Photo: BDG/Soschinski) 

Authors: Peter Hofer, Wolfgang Gössl, Klaus Peter Tucan, Reinhold Gschwandtner, Gerhard Schindelbacher and Peter 

Schumacher, Austrian Foundry Institute ÖGI, Leoben 

Tungsten-based composites as a 

die material in high-pressure 

die-casting 

Local microstructure improvement in high-pressure die-castings (hpdc) by influencing thermal 

and mechanical process parameters were examined. Within the examination of the cooling of 

hpdc-tools the process related properties of the tungsten-based composite Densimet 185 (D185) 

were tested. The scope of investigations involved trials in test facilities and the modelling of the 

thermo-mechanical behaviour of the die material within the thermal-die-cycle. The results of the 

investigations in the test facilitiy and the results of numerical simulation are presented. The material 

D185 is compared with iron-based die materials 


Introduction 

Increasing cost pressure and increasing 

quality standards lead to the necessity 

of more efficient ways of process control 

in the casting industry. Two of the 

main cost drivers are tool costs and the 

accumulating costs of high cycle times. 

The main factor of die damage and severe 

die failures are caused by process 

related thermal stresses which are induced 

by the alteration of heating the 

tool surface being in contact with the 

melt contact and cooling of the surface 

by spraying and applying of the release 

agent. The cycle time in hpdc is mainly 

determined by the solidification time 

of the melt in the die which itself is dependent 

on the heat transfer through 

the die material. From these considerations 

it can be seen that both – thermal 

shock and solidification time – 

can be influenced positively by the 

use of materials with a high thermal 

conductivity. In the recent past steel 

manufacturers have introduced new 

steels with high thermal conductivities 

as materials for hpdc-tools. Apart 

from these materials a variety of materials 

based on refractory metals such 

as tungsten and molybdenum based 

alloys exist. These materials show a 

constantly high thermal conductivity 

over the entire range of application 

temperatures of typically 250 to 500 °C 

whereas conventional, iron based materials 

often show a decrease of thermal 

conductivity with increasing temperature. 

Tungsten and molybdenum 

based alloys have been used in gravity 

and low-pressure die-casting tools for 

several years. The excellent rate of heat 

removal which is achieved makes them 

interesting candidates for hpdc-applications 

even although the material 

costs are clearly higher than those of 

conventional materials. In this work 

the tungsten-based compound alloy 

Densimet 185 (D185) produced by 

Plansee Corp, Reutte, Austria, is being 

investigated closely and compared to 

the conventional tool steel 1.2343. 

Theory - Heat transfer in 

hpdc-tools 

During the solidification of melt in 

a permanent die the heat is removed 

by the mechanisms of heat transfer 

Heat transfer coefficient in Wm -1 K -1 

100 

80 

60 

40 

Densimet 185 

Rovalma HCTS 130, annealed [2] 

20 

1.2343, hardened 

0 

0 100 200 300 400 500 

from the surface and heat conduction 

through the die material. The amount 

of heat removed in a certain time span 

(power of heat removal) is dependent 

on the following parameters: 

» the coefficient of heat transfer (HTC) 

measured in W/m²K at which 1 W/ 

Temperature in °C 

Figure 1: Comparison of the heat conductivity of three different materials 

used in hpdc-die-fabrication (Graphics: ÖGI) 

Figure 2: Schematic view of the used test facility 

m²K is the amount of heat which 

is transferred per second over a one 

square metre large interface when 

the temperature difference is one 

Kelvin and 

» the heat conductivity measured 

in W/mK at which 1 W/mK is the 



amount of heat which is transferred 

per second through a static fluid or 

a solid body when the heat gradient 

is one Kelvin per metre. 

Heat conductivity is an intrinsic thermo-physical 

material parameter which 

itself is temperature dependent. The 

heat transfer coefficient in the opposite 

is a model parameter. Commonly 

heat transfer is calculated as follows: 

Q˙ = α · A · ∆T k 

(Equation1) 

Figure 3: Test procedure and temperature curve during the trials at the test 

facility (schematic) 

Figure 4: Comparison of the results from the trials with water as a cooling 

medium and a single spiral core (SSC) 

where Q˙ is the heat flow, A is the contact 

area fraction, ∆T is the temperature 

difference between the contact 

partners and α the heat transfer coefficient[1]. 

Heat transfer through a solid is determined 

by Fourier’s law of heat conduction. 

In its simplest form it describes 

the stationary heat transfer through a 

wall (Equation 2): 

Q = –– 

l 

· A · DTw· 

d 

(Equation 2) 

where Q˙ is the heat flow, A the area of the 

wall, ∆T is the temperature difference between 

the two sides of the wall and λ is 

the heat conductivity of the wall material 

[1]. Equation 2 also approximates the 

heat flow from a die surface to a cooling 

channel if the temperatures are set to average 

values over one cycle. 

Typical values (in steel dies) for the 

variables in Equation 1 and 2 are: 

α…….....10,000 W/m²K 

A…….....0,1 m² 

λ…….....40 W/mK 

∆T_k…..400K 

∆T_w….100K 

d…….....0,1 m 

After applying these values into the 

Equation 1 the result is 

Q˙ = 400 kW (Equation 3) 

Figure 5: Comparison of the results from the trials with oil as a cooling medium 

and a single spiral core (SSC) 

which is the heat transferred from the 

melt to the die surface. 

It has to be considered that this is 

only valid for the first few moments 

after the metal is injected into the die. 

With progressing solidification the 

amount of transferred heat is reduced 

due to a decreasing ∆T_k and the for- 


Figure 6: Meshed geometry, red: 

melt, blue: die 

Figure 7: Calculated temperature distribution after the end of solidification, 

left: 1.2343, right: D185 

mation of a solid shell, leading to an 

additional heat resistance. 

For the heat transported through the 

die material the result is 

Q˙ = 4 kW. 

It can be seen immediately that the 

amount of heat transferred to the die 

surface is much greater than the amount 

of heat which can be removed by the die 

material. The same situation is given 

when the die surface is quenched rapidly 

by die spraying. In the case of die 

spraying the heat amount induced by 

water eva poration is also much greater 

than the heat which can be transported 

to the die surface. These circumstances 

lead to the formation of temperature 

peaks and subsequently to peaks 

in the thermal stresses especially at the 

surface of the die. The abrupt change 

of compressive and tensile stresses at 

the die surface is a well-known mechanism 

leading to fire cracks. A second 

effect of the limited heat conduction is 

that the cooling rates that are achievable 

by the implementation of cooling 

channels are limited by the die material. 

Higher thermal conductivity of the 

die material would lower the stress and 

temperature peaks and also potentially 

lower cycle times. Therefore benefits 

can be expected for both die life time 

and productivity. 

Comparison of heat conductivities 

As already mentioned materials with 

higher heat conductivities than the 

most commonly used die material, the 

hot working steel 1.2343, have been developed 

in the recent past. One example 

is the material HTCS 130 which 

was developed by Rovalma S.A., Barcelona, 

Spain. The heat conductivity of 

this steel at room temperature is close 

to that of pure iron so that it almost 

reaches the theoretical limit for iron 

based materials. The thermo-physical 

properties at room temperature and 

elevated temperatures have been published 

in [2]. If the heat conductivity 

potentials of iron based materials become 

insufficient for a certain purpose 

one has to switch to other material 

families. One possibility is the use 

of tungsten or molybdenum-based alloys. 

Their heat conductivities are way 

higher than that ones of iron based 

materials. Figure 1 shows a comparison 

of the heat conductivities of the 

materials 1.2343, HTCS 130 and D185. 

(All data in figure 1 were obtained at 

the Austrian Foundry Institute). It is 

remarkable that the heat conductivity 

of D185 is almost constant over the 

whole temperature range. This is quite 

advantageous for the hpdc-process. 

For that reason D185 was tested more 

comprehensively in technological test 

facilities representing industrial hpdc-conditions. 

Experimental – Trials at the 

test facility 

In order to quantify the heat removal 

capacities of different cooling concepts 

in hpdc with respect to cooling 

media (water, oil), flow properties and 

geometries as well as die materials a 

test facility was developed at the Austrian 

Foundry Institute. The trials with 

D185 were part of a larger investigation 

programme with different die materials. 

The results of this series of trials 

with several iron based materials have 

been published in [3] and [4]. The testing 

concept is similar to that presented 

here. 

Each testing device consists of an axially 

symmetrical body which is fabricated 

from the material which is requested 

to be tested. This body is heated 

up to a pre-set temperature of 260 °C 

by a conventional oil tempering device. 

The heat input of the liquid metal 

is simulated by six electrical cartridge 

heaters. In the center of the body is a 

bore hole where the cooling medium is 

passing through. The cooling media are 

directed by different standardized flow 

geometries. Figure 2 shows a schematic 

view of the construction. The body 

has 18 positions for thermocouples logging 

temperature values at six different 

distances from the surface of the bore 

hole and at three different length positions 

of the bore hole. A more detailed 

description is given in [3]. 

The trial itself is divided into 5 stages: 

» Preheating of the body via oil tempering 

up to 260 °C, 

» Heating up to 350 °C via oil tempering 

and cartridge heaters, 

» Activating the cooling at active electrical 

heating with cartridges until 

an equilibrium temperature T equ. 

is 

reached, 



» Deactivating the cooling, reheating 

(as in step 2) to 350 °C, 

» Deactivating of the cartridges, activation 

of the cooling and cooling 

down the facility to ambient temperature. 

These stages as well as a corresponding 

temperature curve are shown in 

Figure 3. The removable amount of 

heat for a certain experimental setting 

can be derived from the equilibrium 

temperature T equ. 

and the slope k of 

the cooling curve. The lower the value 

for T equ. 

and the higher the value of k, 

the higher is the amount of removable 

heat per given time span. 

Surface temperature in °C 

400 

350 

300 

250 

200 

150 

100 

Experimental results 

The results of the trials are shown in 

the Figures 4 and 5. The presented 

values are the cooling rates in stage 5 

(k-values) for water cooling (figure 4) 

and oil cooling (figure 5) in two different 

distances from the surface of the 

drill hole. Tungsten-based D185 shows 

the highest k-values for both, the oil 

and the water tempering, which is due 

to its higher thermal conductivity with 

respect to steel. Heat can be conducted 

through the material much faster. 

The effect appears clearer when the 

heat transfer to the cooling medium 

is higher due to the fact that the limiting 

effect of the die material is greater 

Figure 8: Material D185, stress parallel to surface at the end of solidification 

(left) and at the end of the spraying process (right) 

Temperature W300 

Temperature D185 

Stress W300 

Stress D185 

Mormalspannung in MPa 

200 

100 

0 

-100 

-200 

-300 

-400 

0 10 20 30 40 

Time in s 

Figure 9: Comparison of temperature and stress evolution for the materials 

1.2343 and D185 in the hpdc-cycle (cycle data from Table 1) 

Normal stress im MPa 

the greater the difference between convective 

and conductive heat is. To this 

effect the obtained differences were 

greatest in the trials with water cooling. 

Simulation study – thermal 

stresses in hpdc-tools 

After the higher heat removing capacity 

of the material D185 was confirmed 

via the trials at the testing facility, 

a principal study on the thermal 

behaviour and the corresponding stress 

behaviour of D185 in the hpdc-process 

was done. The aim of this study was to 

determine how the different heat conductivities 

of D185 and 1.2343 result 

in differences in the thermo-mechanical 

loads of a die. For all simulations 

the commercial software ANSYS Workbench 

14.5 was used. The overall concept 

is vaguely based on former works 

by Pierri and Richter [5]. The model 

represents a 2-dimensional section of 

a hpdc-tool which is thermally loaded 

by the heat input of an Al-melt with 

6 mm wall thickness. The cooling 

channel has a diameter of 12,5 mm. 

The meshed geometry is shown in 

Figure 6. As a first step a transient 

thermal calculation of the temperature 

field was conducted. The thermal cycle 

times are shown in Table 1. The heat 

transfer coefficients used in the simulation 

are shown in Table 2. As a cast alloy 

a simplified version of an AlSi-alloy was 

used for the melt. For the die materials 

1.2343 and D185 data sets were generated 

based on the data provided by the 

manufacturers and data measured at 

the Austrian Foundry Institute. The initial, 

homogeneous temperatures of the 

melt were set to 650 °C, while the die 

temperature was set to 210 °C. Figure 7 

shows the calculated temperature distributions 

for 1.2343 and D185 right after 

the end of the solidification of the 

melt. The isothermal lines in figure 7 

show that the heat removal in the die 

made of D185 is clearly higher. This has 

also an observable influence on the solidification 

time. 

Subsequently to the calculation of 

the temperature field a static mechanical 

calculation based on the temperature-field 

calculation was performed. 

The calculated temperature fields at 

each time step of the thermal calcula- 


Process step 

Cavity filled, die closed, solidification 

Die open, waiting, ejection of casting 

Spraying 

Blowing 

Die open, waiting for die closing 

Die closed, waiting for shot 

time 

0-10 s 

10-20 s 

20-22 s 

22-24 s 

24-30 s 

30-40 s 

Table 1: Cycle data for the simulation of the heat balance 

Heat transfer pair 

Heat transfer coefficient in W/m²K 

Melt - Die 10,000 

Spraying medium - Die 10,000 

Blowing air - Die 250 

Ambient - Die 

temperature dependent 

Oil channel - Die 2500 

Table 2: Heat transitions in the individual process steps 

tion were applied as thermal loads at 

each time step of the mechanical simulation. 

As only one load cycle was taken 

into account the material behaviour 

was supposed to be linear elastic. Figure 

8 shows the surface stress (parallel to 

the die surface) of the die made of D185 

at the end of solidification and after 

quenching the surface via the spraying 

process. Corresponding with the thermal 

load of the die surface at the end 

of the solidification the surface suffers 

compressive stress. After the ejection of 

the casting and subsequent spraying of 

the die the temperature gradient is reversed. 

Because of the increased base 

temperature of the die far away from 

the surface the reversed temperature 

field leads to tensile stresses. At the die 

surface the tensile stress has its highest 

level which could lead to the initiation 

of fire cracks in reality. Figure 9 

shows a comparison of the time-stress 

curves for the materials 1.2343 and 

D185. In figure 9 it can be seen that the 

temperature and corresponding stress 

peaks are much lower in D185 than in 

1.2343. Under real conditions the surface 

stresses are overlapped with chemical 

reactions between melt and die material. 

However these effects have not 

been taken into account in this work. 

Conclusions 

Due to its increased heat conductivity 

with respect to steels a better heat removal 

and a better resistivity against 

thermal shocks may be expected by using 

D185 in hpdc-applications. These 

expectations were proven in test facilities 

and by numerical modelling. The 

following conclusions may be drawn: 

» The obtained cooling rates for tungsten 

compound D185 at the test facility 

are higher than that of iron 

based materials, 

» the calculated solidification time using 

tungsten compound D185 is lower 

than observed for steel 1.2343, 

» the calculated temperature peaks for 

D185 are lower than that for steel 

1.2343 

» due to the decreased temperature 

peaks decreased stress peaks may be 

expected. 

It has to be considered that the direct 

prediction of damage initiation and 

die life time cannot be derived from 

the simulations done in this work. This 

is due to the fact that the thermo-mechanical 

fatigue and the plastic material 

behaviour of the materials were 

not taken into account. Nevertheless 

a positive effect of the decreased loads 

can be expected. 

References: 

www.cpt-international.com

K AUTOMATION 

Author: Klaus Vollrath, Aarwangen, Switzerland 

The Olsberg foundry modernizes 

production of castings 

New HWS molding line provides greater flexibility and higher quality 

Olsberg GmbH, an SME based in the 

town of the same name in North- 

Rhine Westphalia, has invested about 

11 million euros in new state-of-the-art 

plants for the production of castings. 

At the heart of the investment lies a 

powerful molding line which, compared 

to the previous equipment, can 

meet considerably higher demands 

regarding the complexity and quality 

of the castings made with it. Heinrich 

Wagner Sinto Maschinenfabrik (HWS) 

from Bad Laasphe was selected as the 

partner for this modernization pro ject, 

which took two years and involved 

deep interventions in the structure 

and processes of the company. Apart 

from the performance of the new plant 

technology, a major reason for choosing 

HWS was the mutual trust that has 

developed during a decades-long collaboration. 

The molding line from Heinrich Wagner Sinto has separate drag and cope 

box lines (Photos and Graphics: HWS) 

Aligned towards customers in 

European machine construction 

“The new molding plant is an important 

and long-term investment in our 

future,” said Ralf Kersting, Managing 

Partner of Olsberg GmbH, during inauguration 

of the new production 

line at the company’s headquarters 

on 23 September 2015. The foundry 

is the nucleus of the family company 

that is almost 440 years old and has 

developed from a smelting works for 

domestic ore into a producer of both 

industrial products made of cast iron 

and sheet metal as well as a specialist 

for heat generation from renewable 

energies based on firewood and 

pellets. Whereby its work as a jobbing 

foundry is a vital economic mainstay. 

The Olsberg foundry supplies a large 

number of well-known industrial customers 

with serial and hand-poured 

castings using cast iron with lamellar 

and spheroidal graphite. 

It has two molding plants on 

which molds are made for complex 

parts with unit weights of from 

1 kg to a maximum of 500 kg and a 

molding box size of 1500 x 1100 x 

500+50/500 mm. The range of activities 

also includes comprehensive 

surface treatment, and partial or full 

processing as well as extensive logistical 

services. With the new molding 

line, which replaces the previous 

37-year-old Molding Line 1 from the 

same producer, Olsberg is orienting 

itself more strongly towards customer 

requirements in European machine 

construction. 

Demanding market environment 

The market for such castings is highly 

competitive internationally. Numerous 

suppliers are active in countries 

that have considerable advantages over 

German producers regarding wages, in 

particular. This primarily affects cheap 

mass-produced parts. In order to be able 

to keep pace here one must exploit one’s 

own strengths and push them as far as 

possible to the limits. German suppliers 

whose most important advantage 

is their highly qualified and motivated 

employees therefore capitalize above 

all on high-quality castings with a high 

level of difficulty and demanding quality 

requirements. In the case of Olsberg 

GmbH these also include, in particular, 

thin-walled housings for electric mo- 


tors with demanding geo metries and 

strongly pronounced ribbing. Another 

aspect is the serial batch sizes, because 

the above-mentioned strengths of domestic 

companies are particularly important 

for small to medium-sized series. 

The decision to purchase the new 

HWS molding line was therefore not 

made in order to expand production 

capacity but, above all, to optimize 

the ability to make technologically demanding 

products with high quality 

and flexibility regarding dimensions, 

weight and serial batch sizes. 

Obsolescence of the previous 

molding plant 

“The old Molding Line 1 provided, 

for example, too little space for insertion 

of the cores in the casting molds 

to produce more complex components,” 

explains Dr. Volker Schulte, 

Technical Manager at Olsberg. In addition, 

the cooling times for larger and 

thicker-walled components, in particular, 

were too short – leading to an 

unacceptably high defect rate. This is 

because the old molding line was originally 

designed for a different product 

range. Because a jobbing foundry 

has to follow the market, these design 

weaknesses became increasingly noticeable 

with the ever-greater alignment 

of casting production for machine 

construction. As the design was 

pre-determined as a result of the original 

concept of the plant, it was impossible 

for the company itself to make 

corrections by undertaking comprehensive 

renovations. 

The new molding line 

“We decided on a molding line technology 

that would be optimum for meeting 

future market demands,” according 

to Dr. Schulte. The company will thus 

be available to future customers as a reliable 

systems supplier. The heart of the 

complete solution supplied by Heinrich 

Wagner Sinto is a plant for mold compaction 

that operates using the Seiatsu.plus 

airflow squeeze press-molding 

process. This ensures excellent and 

even compaction of the mold material, 

even in critical areas with large projections 

or tight ribbing. The main innovations 

compared to the old molding 

During inauguration at the Olsberg headquarters Technical Manager Dr. 

Volker Schulte, The Employment Minister of the German state North-Rhine 

Westphalia Guntram Schneider, Foundry Manager Ulrich Herrmann and Managing 

Director Ralf Kersting (from left to right) initiate plant operation in 

front of guests and employees 

The casting of thin-walled housings for electric motors with demanding geometries 

and strongly pronounced ribbing makes major demands on training 

and qualification at the foundry 


K INTERVIEW 

even and lower internal stress level. 

The availability of 19 spaces for manual 

casting and 15 for the use of an automatic 

casting machine also offers 

greater flexibility. The molding box 

size is 1025 x 775 x 300+50/300 mm 

with a performance of 120 complete 

molds per hour. 

View of the heart of the new molding line. In the center of the picture, on 

the front left, are the prepared patterns for drag and cope boxes, to the right 

of them is the compaction station using the Seiatsu.plus airflow squeeze 

press-molding process 

Compressed air flows through the mold material from above (left) and accelerates 

it in the direction of the pattern plate. The sand thus achieves maximum 

pre-compaction in the layers closest to the pattern. The mold retains its 

strength through re-compaction with a multi-plate press whose pressure can 

be adjusted (right) 

line include equipment for the automatic 

change of patterns, increased 

flexibility during rapid product changes 

or for small series, and the increase in 

the number of core insertion spaces to 

eleven (of which nine are for drag boxes 

and two for cope boxes). This permits 

the creation of considerably more complex 

geometries than before. 

Another important advantage compared 

to the old plant is the much larger 

cooling chamber. The subsequent 

longer cooling time benefits casting 

quality, for example through a more 

Self-adaptive mold material 

compaction 

One outstanding feature of the new 

molding line is the Seiatsu.plus process. 

This is a further development of 

the long-established Seiatsu process, 

based on the combination of airflow 

compression of the mold material followed 

by re-compaction by means of 

numerous individual punches using a 

shared hydraulic drive. The extended 

mold machine elevating platform with 

the pattern plate carrier is mechanically 

interlocked during the entire compaction 

process by means of the proven 

wedge support system, so it cannot 

move downwards. In the new process 

variant, a special frame element (leveling 

frame) provides additional compaction 

of the pattern side – and thus 

a considerable improvement of mold 

hardness, particularly in the peripheral 

areas of the mold. Another feature of 

the system is a flexible choice between 

normal pressing with the multi-plate 

press, use of the airflow with the multiplate 

press, use of the supplementary 

Seiatsu.plus compaction, or an individual 

combination of these variants. 

Every molding box therefore receives 

optimum compaction. 

Selection criteria: performance 

and trust 

The implementation of a project of 

this magnitude was an enormous task 

for a medium-sized company like Olsberg. 

Not only this, but one also had 

to cope with restricted works grounds 

that are veritably squashed between 

two hills and with structures that have 

grown over very many years and are 

closely intermeshed with one another. 

Fitting the plant in the existing conditions, 

and coordinating the demolition 

and building work, presented major 

challenges for all concerned. In such 

pro jects it is important to prevent sit- 


uations requiring adaptations and corrections 

to the original planning. In addition 

to pure performance and price 

criteria, there was also the question of 

which suppliers could be sufficiently 

trusted to handle even unforeseen situations 

as a partner. This was one of the 

decisive reasons for choosing HWS. Olsberg 

had already had very good experiences 

with this plant producer over decades. 

Complicated construction 

phase 

Great attention had to be placed on the 

existing space situation when planning 

the molding line. Numerous modifications 

to the usual arrangement of the 

various plant components were necessary. 

Supports, absorbers and transfer 

equipment had to be adapted. In 

addition, several plant sections had to 

be produced as special versions. The 

hall roof had to be raised to fit the enlarged 

cooling plant for the cast molds. 

The task of carrying out all the building 

measures – including the demolition 

and reconstruction of the building 

under cramped conditions whilst maintaining 

running operation of the foundry 

– proved to be a particular challenge. 

The new molding line was planned and 

constructed in two stages in order to 

minimize work interruptions. During 

the first phase, plant components were 

constructed and installed in the old pattern 

construction area so that the existing 

old line could continue production 

during this time. In the second phase, 

the old molding plant was demolished 

in a few days and, following the foundation 

work, the remaining part of the 

new installation was quickly mounted 

and commissioned together with the 

completed first phase. 

Building on restricted works grounds that are veritably squashed between two 

hills and with structures that have grown over very many years and are closely 

intermeshed with one another was a particular challenge (Photo: Olsberg) 

All this required profound conversion 

and expansion measures. First, a new 

warehouse was built for foundry auxiliary 

materials and a bypass road built 

for the future hall. In order to be able 

to maintain running operation, a new 

piece of hall was docked at the west 

end of the old hall and then building 

work was carried out above the existing 

hall. This was then about three meters 

taller and 14 meters longer than the 

former building. After that, a part of 

the old hall was taken down, and the 

old molding plant was dismantled and 

finally replaced by the new line. 

Investment in the future 

“With the decision to invest this, for 

us, large sum in the foundry in Olsberg 

we are reconfirming our commitment 

to this location and to our qualified 

employees,” says Ralf Kersting. The 

investment is intended to secure the 

company’s existence at this site and 

successfully expand it. It is often asked 

whether Europe will remain a production 

location in future or simply become 

a pure development location for 

others. The Olsberg company has undertaken 

to continue being successful 

in the production location of Germany 

– with its excellent workforce and 

technologically advanced suppliers. 

With this decision, however, they are 

trusting that politicians will continue 

to ensure fair energy and economic 

conditions in Germany. Only in this 

way does a company have a chance to 

remain internationally competitive. 

www.wagner-sinto.de 

www.olsberg.com 

The new molding line 

The new plant should improve, in particular, the possibilities of producing extremely demanding cast components made of cast 

iron with lamellar or spheroidal graphite (GJL / GJS). Casting is carried out in bentonite-bonded molding material; the performance 

is 120 complete molds per hour with a forming box size of 1025 x 775 x 300+50/300 mm. The forming sand requirement 

is 99 tonnes per hour (at 120 molds per hour). There are nine core insertion spaces for open drag boxes and two for 

open cope boxes. In addition to 19 manual casting spaces there are also 15 casting places available for the automatic casting 

machine to be installed later; the cooling time is about 105 minutes. Pattern changes take place automatically. The drag boxes 

are transported on line carriages for core insertion. The compaction of molds takes place with the help of Seiatsu.plus airflow 

squeeze press-molding, whereby a specific press force of maximum 150 N/cm² can be set. The maximum bale height is 

250 mm and the separation distance when lowering the pattern is 550 mm. 


K SIMULATION 

Authors: Wang Houming and Wu Shiguang, Shanghai Sandmann Foundry (SSF) 

Optimization of a brake caliper 

Due to safety reasons, brake calipers are produced to the highest quality requirements. The 

Shanghai Sandmann Foundry (SSF) developed, and is successfully producing a car caliper made 

of spheroidal graphite cast iron (GJS) which was acquired to be optimized in a Disamatic casting 

process. 

Brake caliper, optimized with 

MAGMA 5 (Photos and Graphics: 

Shanghai Sandmann Foundry (SSF)) 

Figure 1: Problems in the area of the hydraulic cylinder: shrinkage cavities and 

sand inclusions 

At the time of acquisition, the caliper 

was being made in a six-cavity layout 

with the cylinder axis in a horizontal 

position. During mass production 

the amount of scrap had increased, 

especially due to unacceptable levels 

of shrinkage porosity and sand inclusions 

in the critical area of the hydraulic 

cylinder (Figure 1), discovered 

during X-ray examination. These defects 

were strongly influenced by the 

layout of the part in the mold. According 

to the engineers of SSF, a change 

of the casting orientation was required 

in order to produce the part economically, 

while fulfilling all quality criteria 

and following the given constraints. 

At the beginning of the optimization, 

the experts used MAGMA 5 to understand 

the problem observed in the 

original layout. The tendency to form 

shrinkage porosity in the feeder neck 

area could be confirmed. However, 

eliminating the problems by simply 

making adjustments to the feeder or 

feeder neck was not possible, due to the 

technical constraints on the pattern. 

Therefore, further changes in the 

casting layout were necessary. Based 

on the experience of the SSF experts, 

the impact of rotating the component 

by 45° in the mold was assessed with 

the help of MAGMA 5 . To rotate the 

parts, the feeders had to be changed to 

a spherical shape, something that SSF 

had already been using successfully for 

other castings. These modifications 

helped to shift the porosity away from 

the critical area. However, the change 

also had a negative impact on the 

mold filling. An increase in turbulence 

Company Profile 

The Shanghai Sandmann Foundry (SSF) Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Huayu Automotive 

Systems (Holdings) Co., Ltd., located in the International Auto City Anting 

Shanghai. They manufacture spherioidal and lamellar cast iron (GJS and GJL) and 

CGI castings for the automotive industry, with an annual production of 160,000 t 

and a turnover of 1.9 billion Euros. Production is mainly performed on three Disamatic 

lines and one HWS line. They also have a dedicated test foundry and a shell 

molding facility. Customers of SSF include automotive OEMs worldwide. 


Figure 2: Original (left) and optimized version (right) of the casting layout 

Figure 3: The ,Hot-Spot FSTime’ quality criterion shows that the process is not robust (left). ‚Hot-Spot FSTIME‘ after 

changing the casting layout (right) 

during filling was observed, which led 

to a higher risk of sand inclusions. 

To also solve this problem, the impact 

of an additional overflow and various 

geometries for gating and feeding 

had to be checked. Through traditional 

simulations, this would have resulted 

in several versions and a lot of manual 

work, but the experts at SSF made 

use of the new metho dology of Autonomous 

Optimization in MAGMA 5 , 

which played a crucial role in finding 

the optimal design (Figures 2 and 3). 

The optimization parameters were 

parametric geometries for the feed- 


K SIMULATION 

with/without 

Overflow 1 

with/without 

Overflow 2 

Feeder 

Geometry 

Smooth 

Filling 

Reduce 

Porosity 

Figure 5: Overview of all designs, linked with the objectives in a parallel coordinates 

diagram 

Figure 4: Parametric geometries - 

overflows and ball feeder as variables 

of the experimental design 

Smooth 

Filling 

Reduce 

Porosity 

ers, gates and optional overflows 

( Figure 4). With this, 10 designs were 

defined and calculated automatically 

as a virtual experiment in MAGMA 5 . 

At the same time, a smooth filling and 

minimum of porosity were specified as 

objectives for the optimization. 

With the help of the statistical tools 

in the assessment perspective of MAG- 

MA 5 , the engineers were able to evaluate 

the complex filling behavior efficiently 

and within a short period of 

time. While a traditional comparison 

of conventional 3-D results did not 

allow clear conclusions, the experts 

were able to identify the main influencing 

factors on the casting quality 

by using the correlation matrix. In 

addition to this, the optimal solution 

was quickly determined with the help 

of the parallel coordinates diagram 

(Figure 5). 

In the correlation matrix (Figure 6), 

the comparatively small influence of 

the overflows on both an optimized 

Feeder 

Geometry 

Figure 6: Linking of process variables and quality criteria in the correlation matrix 

with/without 

Overflow 2 

with/without 

Overflow 1 

feeding and a smooth filling was made 

visible. By contrast, the feeder size 

had a much more significant impact. 

Through an increase of the feeder volume 

by 3 %, the best compromise for 

both objectives was identified. The final 

X-ray examination of the castings 

which were produced with the modified 

design delivered a positive result 

for all areas. 

The systematic investigation of various 

options by the Sandmann experts 

built the basis for a successful mass production 

of the caliper. Through the 

implementation of the optimized layout 

for an annual production of about 

840,000 sound castings, around 384 

tonnes of raw materials could be saved. 

Reduced machining work and energy 

savings led to more than 75,000 euro 

in sa vings, and the scrap rate was reduced 

by a factor of 10. 

www.magmasoft.com 


The new, environmentally friendly AMR (Aeration Molding Robot Pouring) facility at Georg Fischer GmbH in Mettmann 

for the production of automotive lightweight components made of ductile iron (Photo: Andreas Bednareck) 

Author: Douglas Trinowski, Westmont, Illinois, USA 

Comparing molding and core making 

trends in the U.S. and EU casting 

industries 

While there are differences between European and U.S. foundries, those differences are getting smaller. 

Environmental rules and regulations will continue to influence foundries on both sides of the Atlantic 

Some trends bear closer scrutiny: 

REACH regulations may have a significant 

impact on the use of certain 

binders in the EU. As the U.S. adopts 

such regulations, as it has with GHS 

(Globally Harmonized System of Classification 

and Labelling of Chemicals), 

those impacts will be felt by suppliers 

and foundries alike. 

European automotive OEMs have led 

the push for inorganic binders, and were 

willing to take the time and spend the 

money needed to successfully implement 

this technology into serial production. 

The next challenge is to adopt 

“Next Generation” inorganics for ferrous 

and steel no-bake applications to 

overcome the disadvantages with traditional 

sodium silicate binders. For 

the United States, looking to the EU is a 

good indicator of what sorts of technology 

should be considered and what regulations 

may be headed Stateside. 

As suppliers, we too have a role to 

play. Our organizations need to see 

compliance with emission standards 

as reality, and to use sustainable development 

to drive innovation; to look 

for both revolutionary and continued 

evolutionary development of products 

and processes, so that the future for 

foundries in the EU and the U.S. will 

be as good as we think it can be. 

What drives innovation in the 

metalcasting industry? 

The theme of this paper is to compare 

the EU and U.S. foundry industries 

as it pertains to molding methods 

and materials. Information presented 

has been gathered through published 

data and personal interviews, email 

exchanges and conversations with experienced 

colleagues and metalcasting 

experts to give the material greater 

depth and relevance. 

The key question we are trying to 

answer is what drives innovation in 

the metalcasting industry? In particular, 

as it pertains to molding materials 

and the differences between primarily 

western Europe and the United States. 

And in which direction? Is technology 

coming East to West, or does it go from 

the U.S. to the EU? 

For many years, the typical drivers of 

innovation have been the four “P” Peaople, 

Processes, Productivity and Profit. 

If you add “Planet” to the Equation, you 

get something very familiar — Sustain- 


K MARKETS 

ability. “Advanced Sustainable Foundry1” 

was the theme for the 71st World 

Foundry Congress held May, 2014 in 

Bilbao. At the Congress, Dana Cooper 

gave a compelling speech indicating 

that Sustainability is now the key driver 

of innovation. Dana stated that foundry 

companies have moved past the fear 

that “sustainable” and “environmentally-friendly” 

equates with being less 

competitive in the marketplace and 

that it adds cost, and reduces profit. 

In fact, we are seeing design constraints 

being imposed on many product 

offerings – binders, coatings and 

other consumables – by regulations 

that are moving us to conserve resources, 

save energy and reduce emissions. It 

is clear, both in the EU and the United 

States that emissions standards are and 

will continue to be the key driver behind 

product and process innova-tions. 

General metalcasting comparisons 

There has been a worldwide increase 

in foundry capacity over the last ten 

years. From the latest published data 

[2], global metalcasting is on track to 

reach at least 110 million tons by 2015 

(Table 1). 

In 2013, global production increased 

to more than 103 million metric tons, 

an increase of over 3% when compared 

to the previous year, according to Modern 

Casting. The top 10 nations produced 

88 % of the world’s castings, a 

figure that remains unchanged from 

2012 as does the relative positions 

of the top 10 producing countries 

(Table 2). 

In the EU, production was mostly 

down in 2013. France, Germany reported 

3 % to 5 % decreases. An exception 

was Poland. Meanwhile, the United 

States, the world’s second largest producer, 

saw its tonnage increase by nearly 

4 % to 12.25 million metric tons. Also, 

from the published article, the U.S. saw a 

4.4 % increase in its productivity per site, 

with its 2,001 metalcasting facilities averaging 

6,122 metric tons. Germany, the 

world leader in per plant production at 

8,659 metric tons per plant, remains the 

world’s leader in productivity per plant. 

China increased its total production 

by two million metric tons to a total of 

44.5 million. That boost represents a 

large majority of the overall increase in 

global production, meaning China continues 

to increase its share of the global 

market. It is recognized that the over the 

past ten to fifteen years, there has been a 

shift of metalcasting production capacity 

to Asia, to what Don Huizenga [3], 

former foundry owner, and a past president 

of both the American Foundry Society 

and the World Foundry Organization, 

called the “Tier 1”; namely, China, 

India and South Korea. In 2013, China, 

India & South Korea make up over 55 % 

of the world’s metalcasting production. 

The West (including the EU and US) 

has lost significant capacity over the 

last 20 years to the East. The U.S. has 

decreased from a market share of about 

20% to about 10%, while China has increased 

from 15% to over 40% in that 

timeframe. In the last five years alone, 

China has shown over 30% growth in 

market share. The U.S. metalcasting industry 

has faced the closing of thousands 

of plants during this capacity migration. 

This shift of capacity has affected both 

the EU and the United States. 

The U.S. metalcasting industry is 

made up of 1,965 facilities (most recent 

data), down from 2,170 five years 

ago. This reduction can be attributed 

to the 2008-2009 recession, technological 

advancements, foreign competition 

and tightening regulations. Industry 

capacity is 15.5 million tons, 

with the industry forecast to operate 

at 81 % of capacity in 2015. 

Taken as a whole, the EU is the world’s 

second largest metalcasting producer, 

producing some 15.2 million tons vs. 

the U.S. at 12.25 million tons [4]. The 

EU has almost 2.5 times as many casting 

plants as the United States, some 

4,958 plants vs. the U.S. at roughly 

2,001 based on 2013 data. However, if 

you look at the NAFTA region by adding 

Canada and Mexico, casting production 

is 15.1 MM tons, pretty much 

at parity with the EU, but still the EU 

has almost twice as many plants. 

Jahr 

Quantity in 

million tons 

2004 79.745 

2008 93.449 

2010 91.673 

2012 98.269 

2013 103.20 

2015 

110.00 

(Forecast) 

Table 1: Global foundry production 

Future forecast: Risks and opportunities 

Let’s look at the future forecast. For the 

EU, the forecast is cautiously optimistic. 

Much depends on GDP and monetary 

and other political issues. Most 

view the recent decline in the value of 

the Euro should be good for growth, as 

exports make up a huge chunk of Europe’s 

GDP, more than a quarter [5]. 

Heiko Lickfett from the German 

Foundry Association predicted at last 

year’s IFF in Venice forecasts that Western 

Europe can hold level with slight 

increases in iron, steel and aluminum 

[4]. The CAEF sees Western Europe 

with increases around 4% from 2015- 

2018 in iron and steel, and a more bullish 

forecast for aluminum over the 

same three year period of nearly 8%. 

Eastern Europe is more dynamic with 

potential for even higher growth rates. 

There are some concerns. In Germany, 

electric energy costs have risen 

over 40 % for the 4 year period 2007 

– 2016. For Italy, the 9th largest casting 

producer and leading non-ferrous 

producer in the EU, there are real headwinds 

ahead. Energy costs are 30 % 

higher compared to its European partners. 

For the EU, most of the growth 

coming from exports of castings may 

be displaced as investments in casting 

production in regions such as NAFTA 

and China are mainly based on investments 

of European OEMs [4]. 

Germany remains at 5th in overall 

casting production and is the largest 

single country in the EU in terms of 

metalcasting production; therefore, 

most of the following comparisons will 

focus on Germany as compared to the 

United States (Table 3). 

German foundries: highly productive 

What drives the high productivity in 

German foundries? In personal conversations 

and interviews with a num- 


Country 

Casting production in Number of foundries 

million tons 

China 44.5 30 000 

U.S. 12.25 2001 

India 9.81 4600 

Japan 5.54 2085 

Germany 5.18 599 

Russia 4.1 1200 

Brazil 3.07 1352 

Korea 2.56 910 

Table 2: Top 10 countries in casting production (Source: 48th Census of World 

Casting Production) 

Germany 

USA 

Position among the top ten 5 2 

Produktivity very high high 

Labour market Need for more specialists Need for more specialists 

Energy costs high low 

Capacity utilization fully occupied capacity utilization of 75-80 % 

Table 3: Germany and the USA in comparison 

ber of individuals familiar with both 

markets, all stated that innovation is 

what drives productivity in Germany. 

Their view, shared by many, is German 

foundries employ more advanced use 

of technology and automation; German 

foundries tend to be more modern, 

better capitalized, well-maintained 

and well-managed. Their senior 

management and leadership staffs 

have more engineering backgrounds 

versus the predominant production 

& financial backgrounds found in U.S. 

foundries. 

Additional qualitative differences include 

more focus on process and metallurgical 

control during manufacturing 

and less on inspection and quality 

control after casting. The low energy 

costs of the United States should not 

be ignored. It is a key advantage U.S. 

foundries have over their EU counterparts. 

In fact, according to author Peter 

Zeihan, the United States is looking at 

decades of low natural gas prices, primarily 

due to the shale gas boom, horizontal 

drilling and hydraulic fracturing 

techniques [7]. He goes on to state 

that since 2008, U.S. average electricity 

prices are now the cheapest in the 

world. Quite an advantage for an energy 

intensive industry such as metalcasting. 

Molding material differences 

Let’s take a closer look at differences 

between the EU and U.S. in molding 

materials usage and choices and how 

regulations drive those material choices. 

We will examine differences in several 

areas: 

» Differences between EU and U.S. 

foundries from a product technology 

perspective 

» Differences between product development 

strategies of major suppliers 

» Differences between EU and U.S. 

foundries from environmental regulations 

Figure 1 compares foundry binder usage 

[8] in the EU and the US. There are 

two key differences. First, is the greater 

use of the Furan No-Bake (FNB) process 

(shown here as Acid Cured binders, 

which includes a small amount 

of Phenolic No-Bake) in the EU, especially 

in Germany. Over twice as much 

FNB is used in the EU (44 %) as in the 

US (19 %). On the other hand, the use 

of Phenolic Urethane No-Bake predominates 

in the United States (nearly 

25 % in the US vs. only 3 % in EU— 

over 8 times as much!). In fact, there 

is virtually no PUNB used in Germany. 

Why the difference? One reason is 

historical. Furan No-Bake binders were 

developed in the late 1950s ten years 

earlier than Phenolic Urethane binders. 

FNBs depend upon a key raw material, 

furfuryl alcohol that is derived 

from agricultural by-products such 

as corn cobs and sugar cane bagasse. 

Periodic shortages of these materials 

due to fluctuations in crop harvests 

can reduce supply and drive up prices. 

In response to these unpredictable 

variations, phenolic urethanes were 

developed in the United States by the 

Foundry Division of Ashland Chemical 

in the late 1960s and introduced 

to the foundry market in the U.S. in 

the early 1970s (in the case of Phenolic 

Urethane Cold-Box as a response to 

high natural gas prices due to the first 

oil embargo). U.S. foundries had the 

initial access to this technology earlier 

than those in the EU, and converted 

to the new technology. The conclusion 

is material choices tend to be regional 

versus a single global market driver. 

Today, there is overwhelming use of 

Furan No-Bake binders (FNB) as the 

system of choice for EU steel foundries. 

This contrasts quite differently from 

the U.S. where Phenolic Urethane No- 

Bake binders (PUNB) are the predominant 

choice for steel foundries [9]. 

Product solutions tend to be more 

company specific than regional. That 

is, one company’s solution to continuous 

product improvement and to meet 

environmental regulations may not be 

the same as the next. 

For example, for nearly fifteen years, 

Hüttenes-Albertus, Düsseldorf, Germany, 

has used tetraethyl silicate (TEOS) 

a hybrid inorganic/organic material, 

to reduce emissions, smoke & odor in 

urethane cold-box (PUCB) systems. For 

the past three years, HA International 

has used this same technology in urethane 

no-bake (PUNB). Other suppliers 

have chosen a different route using 

conventional aromatic solvents with 

improved environmental characteristics 

to achieve similar results. 

While beyond the scope of this document 

to analyze which approach is 


K MARKETS 

“better”, such dichotomy gives foundry 

customers a choice to maintain 

compliance with regulations and to 

enhance productivity and profit. 

Those are examples of continuous 

evolutionary development with incremental 

advantages. The introduction 

of the new generation of inorganic 

binders over the last five years 

represent an ex-ample of revolutionary 

technology—and an example of radical 

thinking in product innovation. 

It is also another example of a regional 

trend. The usage of “Next Generation” 

inorganic binders has been 

led by Germany and a few other EU 

countries, who adopted these binders 

for high production of automotive aluminum 

cast parts earlier than the United 

States. 

For over ten years, the EU has had 

keen interest in inorganic binders, 

primarily due to more stringent environmental 

regulations for air emissions, 

water contamination and odor. 

In November, 2002, this was brought 

into sharp focus after a VDG Conference 

titled, “Inorganic Binders – breakthrough 

or everlasting hope?” and especially 

after the 2003 GIFA when 

legacy Laempe introduced the “Beach 

Box” process. 

Now, German OEM and Tier 1 automotive 

foundries are using inorganic 

binders in high volume aluminum 

casting applications; namely, 

VW, Daimler, BMW, Nemak, Martinrea 

Honsel and a few others. While still 

being introduced at several of these 

high profile foundries, reclamation 

of these advanced inorganic binders 

works, usually a combination of both 

mechanical and thermal treatments. 

As German OEM and Tier 1 automotive 

foundries build new facilities in 

other regions of the world, China, Mexico 

and others, they are taking inorganic 

with them. This in turn has started an 

interest in testing and evaluating these 

systems by OEMs in Japan and Korea. 

But not so far in the United States. 

While some Asian OEM transplants in 

the U.S. are evaluating advanced inorganics, 

the progress is slow. The focus, 

at least at this point in time appears to 

be more on improving productivity of 

organic systems. Why the difference? 

32 % 

3 % 

Acid Cured Phenolic Esters PUNB PUCB 

Hot-Box 

2 % 3 % 1 % 1 % 

14 % 

Shell 

EU 

inorganic 

44 % 

Others 

Binder companies providing this 

technology have noted that it takes significant 

organizational commitment 

to get inorganics running, both from 

the supplier and the customer. The “innovators” 

and “early adopters” have all 

made multiple year commitments to 

get inorganic commercialized in serial 

applications. That commitment also 

involves significant equipment investment 

and process change. 

Consider that each binder system 

has its own performance and process 

characteristics: 

» binder system chemistry 

» sand preparation requirements 

» strength development characteristics 

» system productivity 

» pattern and tooling requirements 

» mixed sand flowability and blowability 

» ease of sand removal and shake-out 

» sand reuse levels and reclamation requirements 

» cost per ton of mixed sand 

37 % 

2 % 

5 % 

2 % 

Figure 1: Comparison of foundry binder usage in the EU and the US (Graphics: HA) 

USA 

2 % 

19 % 

25 % 

8 % 

Some binder conversions such as Phenolic 

Urethane Cold-Box (PUCB) and 

resin coated sands (RCS) to inorganics 

involve large changes in these characteristics. 

The goal in any of these 

changes is to maintain productivity, 

sand reuse levels, casting quality and 

of course, costs. For smaller metalcasting 

facilities the investment cost versus 

the benefit is huge. 

Nor can the difference be explained 

by differences in aluminum engine applications. 

Most cylinder heads in U.S. 

light truck and passenger cars are aluminum. 

Aluminum is also used for motor 

blocks, although some larger displacement 

blocks remain in cast iron. 

Aluminum production in the U.S. is 

over 1.68 million metric tons – albeit 

not all automotive – nearly twice as 

much as Germany [2]. 

And, there are always exceptions. 

One such exception in the United States 

is the use of inorganic chemistry in ablation 

casting. Honda recently unveiled 

the production version of its Acura NSX 

sports car, which uses advanced materials 

and production processes in building 

the car. In an article in the April 

2015 Modern Casting issue, key to the 

design were three cast aluminum connecting 

joints produced by Honda via 

the ablation casting process [10]. 

Ablation casting provides the same 

metallurgical properties as the surrounding 

aluminum extrusions, previously 

unattainable in a casting alloy. 

Shannon Wetzel, author of the 

article goes on to say, “Honda was 

able to achieve the necessary properties 

and design requirements with 

ablation casting by partnering with 

Alotech Limited, Cleveland, Ohio. Ab- 


lation casting is a new technology invented 

by Alotech that combines the 

flexibility of traditional sand casting 

techniques with rapid cooling of the 

molten alloy through the use of a water-soluble 

(i.e. inorganic) binder” [10]. 

The casting was selected as “Casting of 

the Year” at the recent AFS Metalcasting 

Congress in April 2015. The Alotech 

ablation casting process is intriguing to 

see in action and an example of American 

innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Environmental Regulations 

In terms of environmental regulations 

[11, 12] and its impact on molding 

and core making systems, there are 

some areas where the EU lags and some 

where it leads. One “lag” is in the classification 

of formaldehyde, which can 

be a constituent of many foundry resins, 

including Furan and Phenolic No- 

Bake resins and Phenolic Urethanes, 

both Cold-box and No-bake resins. 

In the EU, formaldehyde has now 

been classified as a Category 1B carcinogen 

from a Category 2B. Category 

2B means formaldehyde is a suspected 

carcinogen; Category 1B is presumed 

to have carcinogenic potential for humans. 

The classification is largely based 

on animal evidence. This change was 

to be effective April 2015 but has now 

been deferred until January 1, 2016. 

It will force all resins containing 

formaldehyde to “non-reportable” 

formaldehyde levels (< 0.1 %), meaning 

that warnings do not have to appear 

on labels and Safety Data Sheets 

if levels are below 0.1 %. 

In the U.S., formaldehyde is classified 

as Category 1A carcinogen, 

meaning it is known to have carcinogenic 

potential for humans. The classification 

is largely based on human 

evidence. But, US EPA’s regulation of 

formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen 

is controversial. EPA reversed 

it prior stance several years ago and 

changed the manner in which they 

assessed the carcinogenic potential of 

formaldehyde in humans. 

It is interesting to note that the EU 

reviewed the same data as US EPA at approximately 

the same time and came 

to a different conclusion regarding the 

carcinogenic potential. 

In the United States, formaldehyde 

was more tightly regulated by OSHA 

in the mid-1990s (CFR 1910.1048) and 

driven by worker exposure concerns. 

So, foundries and binder suppliers 

have years ago addressed this concern. 

Foundry resins are already formulated 

to < 0.1% in most binder segments. 

REACH vs. TSCA [11, 12] 

REACH is the Regulation on Registration, 

Evaluation, Authorization and 

Restriction of Chemicals. It entered 

into force on June 1, 2007. TSCA is the 

Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. 

It provides US EPA with authority to 

require reporting, recordkeeping and 

testing requirements, and restrictions 

relating to chemical substances and/or 

mixtures. The main difference is that 

in the EU, REACH generally requires 

chemical producers or importers to 

demonstrate a product is safe – “no 

data, no market”. Testing and documentation 

is required. Under TSCA, 

EPA has the burden of demonstrating 

a product, or chemical is not safe; testing 

is not normally required by companies. 

TSCA reform in the United States is 

currently under legislative debate and 

subject to possible regulatory change. 

Future Trends 

There are several trends in the casting 

industry getting equal interest on 

both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and 

reported by both Lickfett [4] and Modern 

Casting [10]. 

» Substitution: Efforts continue in 

substituting cast parts for weldments 

» Additive Manufacturing: Use of 3-D 

printing of cores and molds; Potential 

threat of direct printing of metal 

A brief look in the April 2015 issue of 

Modern Casting, shows many examples 

that demonstrate the ability of 

castings to substitute for other competing 

materials and forming processes 

and do so in a manner that saves the 

end user time and money. 

3-D printing is often described as a 

“disruptive technology” and according 

to many sources is continuing to 

expand at a rapid rate with expected 

growth of 30 % annually. 

According to Nicholas Leider, Associate 

Editor of Modern Casting, “Metalcasters 

have already seen the impact of 

3-D printing and are using it in the production 

of patterns and for sand cores 

and molds – a process that can take weeks 

off lead times and reduce costs related to 

product development. 3-D printing of 

metal has lagged behind other methods 

materials, but recent advancements have 

led to the technology being used for prototyping 

and small-run production parts 

[14].” The process has gained interest in 

a wide variety of important adopting industries, 

such as aerospace, automotive, 

engineering and medical. 

3-D printing of metal is a technology 

that could impact the metalcasting 

industry, but not necessarily negatively. 

It could impact metalcasters 

in positive ways. Nicholas Leider goes 

on to say, “Processes may develop into 

potential sources for tooling and dies. 

Direct metal printing also may become 

another viable option for rapid prototyping 

and small run components, becoming 

a new resource for metalcasters 

[14].” 3-D printing of sand cores and 

molds is gaining acceptance, especially 

as printing speeds improve. Which 

according to a recent Additive Manufacturing 

Workshop held concurrently 

with the American Foundry Society 

Metalcasting Congress in Columbus, 

Ohio, USA, is exactly what 3-D printing 

companies are planning to do. 

It is clear that environmental regulations 

will get more stringent. Most 

people have already heard about Emissions 

Trading, also known as “Cap and 

Trade”. The efforts to reduce global carbon 

emissions are one with which everybody 

can agree. In 2013, a record 36 

billion t of CO 2 

was released from all 

sources. The biggest emitters were China, 

which produced 29 % of the total, 

followed by the U.S. at 15 %, the EU at 

10 % and India at 7.1 % [15]. 

While not the only greenhouse gas 

of concern, carbon dioxide represents 

over 60 % of all greenhouse gasses and 

is generally used as the bellwether. The 

drive for reducing emissions from all 

foundry sources should be clear. 

References: 

www.cpt-international.com 


A vehicle in the Mercedes BR222 series (S-Class) illustrated with rear suspension strut dome in position (Photo: Daimler AG) 

Author: Klaus Vollrath, Aarwangen, Switzerland 

Aluminum structural castings: 

greater capacity for Europe’s 

premium cars 

Hybrid car body structures made of steel and aluminum have become established at Europe’s 

premium producers. Considerable weight savings, and thus reduced fuel consumption, can be 

achieved with such constructions. DGS Druckguss Systeme AG, based in St. Gallen in Switzerland, 

proves its competence as a development partner for the worldwide large-scale production 

of such castings by delivering large-format structural components for the hybrid body of Mercedes’ 

new C-Class. The next step is to build up production and logistical structures that meet 

the needs of Europe’s premium producers throughout the market – not only regarding development 

competence and component quality, but also production capacities and cost structures 

“The successful collaboration with Mercedes 

in developing aluminum structural 

castings for the hybrid body of Mercedes’ 

new C-Class was an important 

breakthrough for us,” says a pleased 

Axel Schmidt, Manager of Technology 

and Sales at DGS Druckguss Systeme 

AG. The company was thus able to prove 

that they met all the prerequisites for 

supplying premium producers not only 

for niche vehicles, but also for models 

that are mass-produced worldwide. This 

also involved mastering the appropriate 

technology so well that a smooth worldwide 

supply of the necessary parts could 

be assured. DGS can supply three of the 

four works in which Mercedes produces 

the C-Class: the parts for Germany and 

South Africa come from the DGS works 

in Switzerland, supply of the Mercedes 

works in China takes place via the DGS 

foundry in Nansha (China), which was 

appropriately qualified by personnel 

from St. Gallen. And the local casters responsible 

for production in America received 

technological support from DGS 

specialists. 


For the specialists from Switzerland, 

the successful technology transfer was 

both a challenge and an accolade for a 

different, higher, level of qualification. 

Strategies and training procedures had 

to be worked out at the various sites, 

which previously had no experience 

with such structural castings. The setting 

up and implementation of serial 

production abroad was possibly the 

greatest challenge in this project – due 

to variations in the level of technological 

mastery, language barriers and differences 

in mentality. “We at DGS are 

particularly proud that we were the 

first European casters to take on this 

enormous challenge and positively 

master it,” Axel Schmidt said after the 

successful start of production. 

A step into the extensive European 

premium market 

“Even then it was clear to us that in 

future we would have to face rapidly 

growing demand for such parts for 

other models and carmakers, too,” adds 

Schmidt. This was easy to see from the 

large number of inquiries and development 

projects DGS was involved in. 

Apart from Mercedes, the company was 

also in discussions with other premium 

producers such as Audi, Porsche and 

BMW. It was obvious that the emerging 

demand already present just in Europe 

would be impossible to cover with the 

capacities available in St. Gallen, while 

the lack of available space ruled out any 

major expansion. Completely rebuilding 

the company on a sufficiently large 

piece of land was also out of the question 

for another reason: the very strong 

Swiss franc at the time had become a 

serious and, in some cases, even insurmountable 

handicap – above all for vehicles 

in the medium to lower price 

segments. It was therefore necessary to 

find ways to carry out some of the corresponding 

production abroad, where 

there was a more favorable costs situation. 

A condition and requirement for 

this, however, would be transferring 

the familiar high quality of the Swiss to 

whatever country was selected. In this 

situation, DGS decided to become the 

first European die-casting foundry to 

set up production of large-format structural 

castings in the Czech Republic. 

The works in Liberec (the 

Czech Republic) 

“This made it possible for us to participate 

with our efficient modern aluminum 

die-casting foundry,” reveals Luboš Pfohl, 

Managing Director of DGS Druckguss Systeme 

s.r.o. in Liberec in the Czech Republic. 

Since the 1990s, numerous companies 

involved in plastic processing, machine 

construction and the automotive supply 

industry, in particular, have settled in this 

highly dynamic industrial region south 

of the border triangle made up of Germany, 

Poland and the Czech Republic. The 

die-casting foundry was built as a proverbial 

‘garage startup’ in 1990 during the 

economic liberalization, and was quickly 

able to gain a good reputation, particularly 

in the country’s growing automotive 

industry. Economic crises and the 

DGS made the leap into large-scale 

production with the development 

partnership for castings such as this 

suspension strut dome for the Mercedes 

C-Class 

desire to grow, also westwards, provided 

an impetus for collaboration with a western 

partner. Consequently, the takeover 

by what is now DGS took place at about 

the turn of the millennium. Since then, 

the rapidly growing works in Liberec has 

developed into one of the most important 

suppliers for European carmakers, delivering 

high-quality ready-to-install castings 

exactly to specification and within 

deadlines – meeting the requirements of 

this very demanding market. Systematic 

preparation for the production of structural 

castings had already begun in 2014 

with intensive support from the parent 

company in St. Gallen. For this purpose, 

The production of structural castings for the S-Class and GLC models from Mercedes now takes place on three modern 

Carat die-casting cells at the Liberec works 


K COMPANY 

three modern, fully automated Carat 

die-casting cells from Bühler, Uzwil, Switzerland, 

with clamping forces of 1,300 

tonnes and 1,600 tonnes, as well as the 

necessary upstream and downstream logistical 

chain – from the separate incoming 

metals store with its own spectral analysis 

system, through heat treatment and 

processing equipment, to dressing and inspection 

stations – were setup and audited. 

Parallel to this, the employees received 

appropriate training, and the processes in 

the company were structured in line with 

the new needs. Serial production of structural 

castings for the Mercedes S-Class and 

its GLC models started in mid-2015. In 

the meantime, the development of parts 

for other vehicles from Porsche, Audi and 

VW has already advanced to the samples 

phase in some cases. 

Double strategy for optimum 

Europe-wide logistics for structural 

castings 

“Thanks to this strategy, the two DGS 

works now act as a team for their European 

customers with different, but coordinated, 

performance profiles – and can 

therefore cover an extraordinarily wide 

product range,” explains Schmidt. Each 

of the sites has its specific advantages. In 

St. Gallen, DGS has a recognized high 

level of expertise in the development 

and production of large-format structural 

castings that has made the site a 

sought-after partner for joint projects in 

the further development of such applications. 

In addition, the company has 

particularly large die-casting cells with 

clamping forces of up to 3,200 tonnes 

here. The works therefore also remains 

indispensable for its function as a development 

site, as well as a production site 

for particularly demanding large-format 

structural castings. On the other hand, 

the works in Liberec is continuously improving 

its level of competence thanks 

to constant transfers of technology and 

expertise, and can thus also serve other 

market segments. The procurement 

of another Bühler Carat 160 plant is already 

planned for autumn 2016. 

Massive capacity expansion in 

the Czech Republic 

“In view of the enormous interest in 

our products we will steadily expand 

A ‘marshalling yard’: the castings are passed through a fully automatic furnace 

plant to achieve the desired properties 

the Liberec site during coming years,” 

Pfohl reveals. As the existing buildings 

are already fully occupied, several new 

halls will be constructed on an area of 

the works grounds that has not already 

been built on. Up to eight new Carat 

plants with clamping forces of up to 

2,500 tonnes – and all the associated 

upstream and downstream equipment 

such as the melting shop, heat treatment, 

processing centers and surface 

treatment – will gradually be installed 

here during the coming years. Because 

the company has been able to make 

plans for this land without being bothered 

by existing structures the other infrastructure 

can be designed to meet 

state-of-the-art requirements in terms 

of works planning and workflow management. 

Another building providing 

a separate energy supply, as well as one 

that will house an office and personnel 

section, are also planned. “This expansion 

will equip us to meet all expected 

upcoming market needs in the coming 

years,” stresses Pfohl. According to current 

planning, production in the new 

works is expected to start in late 2018/ 

early 2019. 

www.dgs-druckguss.com 

Maximum care is taken during final 

inspection of this processed suspension 

strut dome for the Mercedes 

GLC (BR 253) 


OTTO JUNKER 

Groundbreaking ceremony at Otto Junker’s Lammersdorf site, attended 

amongst others by Marcel Philipp, Lord Mayor of Aachen (4th from left), and 

Dr. Ambros Schindler, Member of the Board of the Otto Junker Foundation 

(4th from right) 

Expanding production, securing 

employment 

Two new production buildings are to 

be erected at Otto Junker’s Lammersdorf 

site with a view to safeguarding 

the company’s future competitive 

strength in global markets. The shops 

will accommodate the central optimization 

of coils, one of the key components 

of coreless induction furnaces, 

as well as their fabrication in line 

with market demands. Construction is 

scheduled to be completed in the second 

half of 2017. The new sheds will 

add another 3,440 m² to Otto Junker’s 

current 30,300 m² of manufacturing 

floorspace. Otto Junker is to invest approx. 

4 million euros in the new shop 

buildings, thus securing existing employment 

and creating the basis for 

new jobs. Another 1.5 million euros 

will go towards the erection of a new 

employee welfare building and new 

foundry equipment. 

For the symbolic ground-breaking 

ceremony marking the start of construction 

of the new production buildings 

at 12:00 noon on August 18, 2016, 

the management of Otto Junker GmbH 

had invited all parties involved in the 

project, regional community leaders, 

as well as journalists from the local 

press and technical trade press. 

Markus D. Werner, Chairman of the 

Managing Board of Otto Junker GmbH, 

welcomed all guests on behalf of the 

Otto Junker Foundation, the Supervisory 

Board, and the Managing Board of 

Otto Junker GmbH. By inviting the attendees 

to witness the turning of the 

first sod for the new buildings, he emphasized 

his confidence in the future of 

the site and, more specifically, of Otto 

Junker GmbH. “Our aim is to secure 

growth and to create the basis for new 

jobs with this investment”, he said. 

Along with Bernd Goffart, Vice-Mayor 

of the Municipality of Simmerath, 

Werner welcomed further invitees including 

Helmut Brandt, member of the 

German parliament, Mr. Stefan Kämmerling, 

member of the provincial parliament 

of North Rhine-Westphalia, 

Mr. Marcel Philipp, Lord Mayor of 

Aachen, and Franz-Josef Hammelstein, 

chief of the Lammersdorf community. 

Werner expressed special thanks to the 

planning team and to all other parties 

involved in the project who had given 

their support in the last few months 

and would continue to do so in the 

months to come to see the construction 

project through to its successful 

completion, thus expanding the 

available surface area for the projected 

purpose, i.e., for the future coil fabrication. 

Before Werner gave the floor to 

Helmut Brandt, a brief welcoming address 

to the entire audience was delivered 

by Mr. Markus Kroner, spokesman 

for the Goldbeck general contracting 

firm. Next on the speakers list were Stefan 

Kämmerling, Marcel Philipp, Bernd 

Goffart und Franz-Josef Hammelstein. 

The highlight of the event, needless 

to say, was the symbolic turning 

of the first sod. This was followed by 

Werner’s invitation for a snack lunch 

at the teahouse in Junker Park which 

was still built by the company’s founder, 

Mr. Otto Junker. 

www.otto-junker.de 

ATLAS COPCO 

Acquisition of Leybold Vacuum 

completed 

Atlas Copco, Stockholm, Sweden, a 

leading provider of sustainable productivity 

solutions, owns the former Oerlikon 

Leybold Vacuum GmbH, renamed 

Leybold GmbH. Founded in 1873, Atlas 

Copco is a global player with more than 

43,000 employees in over 180 countries. 

Leybold becomes part of the Vacuum 

Solutions Division, belonging to the 

Compressor Technique Business Area, 

with approximately 6,500 employees 

represented in over 35 countries. 

With this acquisition, Atlas Copco 

trusts the strengths of the vacuum specialists 

at Leybold, founded in 1850, 

who will keep their traditional and 

well-known brand in the market. 

“The technological know-how and the 

innovative spirit of Leybold will complement 

our vacuum portfolio and 

strengthen our market presence, contributing 

to our customers’ success,” 

says Geert Follens, President of the Atlas 

Copco Vacuum Solutions Division. 

Leybold, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, 

and has a 166-year long history, 

develops and delivers vacuum pumps, 

systems, standardized and customized 


K NEWS 

vacuum solutions and services for various 

industries. As a leading supplier of 

vacuum technology, Leybold offers sustainable 

solutions for industrial processes 

such as secondary metallurgy and a range 

of coating technologies. With a high application 

expertise in the fields of analytical 

instruments, display production 

as well as in research and development, 

Leybold ranks among the world’s top providers 

and has always been a part of wellknown, 

globally active companies. 

With rough, medium, high and ultra-high 

vacuum pumps, vacuum systems, 

vacuum gauges, leak detectors, 

components and valves, as well as 

consulting and engineering of turnkey 

vacuum solutions, Leybold provides 

a very broad portfolio for general 

and specific customer applications. 

“We will continue to support our customers 

in the future with our vacuum 

expertise. 

Our enhanced product portfolio, 

sustainable after-sales services and 

proximity to our customer will distinguish 

us as a reliable business partner”, 

says Steffen Saur, Chief Marketing Officer, 

responsible for the global sales 

and service activities of Leybold. “Additionally, 

by combining Atlas Copco’s 

and Leybold’s strengths in industrial 

dry pumps and scientific turbo pumps, 

it will provide a technology platform 

for superior next generation products.” 

As a pioneer of vacuum technology, 

Leybold will continue to focus on performance 

and growth in the industrial, 

research and development, and analytical 

market sectors. 

www.leybold.com 

GEORG FISCHER AUTOMOTIVE 

Automotive foundry secures 

major order for hybrid vehicle 

components 

GF Automotive, a division of GF, 

Schaffhausen, Switzerland, has received 

an important order from a 

French car manufacturer for the battery 

housing of a new hybrid vehicle. 

The contract for this new customer 

amounts to 77 million euros. 

The battery housings made of aluminum 

with an integrated cooling system 

will be produced in Germany as of 

2019. This recent major order underscores 

the development and manufacturing 

skills of GF Automotive in the 

growing market for E-mobility. With 

an eye to maximizing the vehicle’s 

range, the lightweight design is a particularly 

important factor. 

GF Automotive is one of the world’s 

leading automotive suppliers and a 

technologically pioneering development 

partner and manufacturer for 

components of passenger cars, trucks 

and industrial applications. Each 

year the division manufactures some 

600,000 tons of iron, aluminum and 

magnesium at eleven production plants 

in Germany, Austria, China and the US. 

GF comprises three divisions GF Piping 

Systems, GF Automotive, and GF Machining 

Solutions. GF Automotive with 

headquarter in Schaffhausen is a recognized 

development and serial production 

partner of the automotive industry 

and industrial applications with 11 

production sites in four countries (Germany, 

Austria, China, USA). The core 

business is the development and production 

of highly stressable castings in 

iron, aluminum and magnesium. GF 

Automotive has therefore designed the 

Example of a battery housing 

(Photo: GF Automotive) 

research & development for years on 

weight reduction and lightweight and 

the reduction of CO 2 

emissions and efficient 

fuel consumption. 

www.gfau.com 

ENEMAC 

Clamping – robust and reliable 

The hydromechanical spring clamping 

cylinder ESZS of Enemac, Kleinwallstadt, 

Germany, is manufactured 

in 9 sizes and includes a nominal 

clamping force range of 16 kN up to 

350 kN. 

Since the clamping force is built up 

mechanically by pre-loaded disc spring 

package – the hydraulic system is only 

required for the release stroke of the 

elements – this system ensures reliable 

high operational safety, as the clamping 

force is maintained independently 

of oil pressure or leakage losses. 

Cost saving, the ESZS can be used 

anywhere where sliding or moving 

parts need to be fixed or clamped. 

Equally it can be used for jigmaking or 

mold and die clamping. 

www.enemac.de/en 

The ESZS can be used anywhere 

where sliding or moving parts need to 

be fixed or clamped (Photo: Enemac) 


TRIMET 

Increased capacity for high-quality aluminum 

foundry alloys 

Trimet Aluminium SE, Essen, Germany, has reacted to the 

growing demand for high-quality foundry alloys by investing 

in a second horizontal continuous casting plant at its Essen 

works. Hertwich Engineering, Braunau am Inn, Austria, a 

subsidiary of the SMS group (www.sms-group.com), has been 

selected as equipment supplier. 

Horizontal casting units have been part of Hertwich’s product 

range for 40 years. During that time the company has been 

able to accumulate comprehensive experience from numerous 

projects. That experience has contributed toward a continuous 

process of improvement, which has brought the company 

to a technological peak in this sector. In fact, the use of 

such plants is in no way limited to foundry alloys, as described 

below. 

Trimet supplies foundry alloys optionally in the form of bipart 

ingots of a belt-type ingot caster or as horizontal continuously 

cast ingots. For ingot production, in 2013 a belt-type 

ingot caster for 30,000 tons per year went into operation. The 

existing horizontal continuous casting line with a capacity of 

40,000 tons per year, which has been in operation since 2003, 

has now been supplemented by a second line for 60,000 tons 

per year. Thus, at the smelter casthouse in Essen horizontal 

continuous casting currently accounts for around a third of 

the production capacity. Both horizontal casting units and 

the belt-type ingot caster have been supplied by Hertwich. 

Horizontally cast ingots are preferred as demanding input 

stock for direct processing. The market development shows, 

that aluminum for highly stressed castings, such as those used 

in particular by the automotive industry, is increasingly requested. 

In fact, Trimet confirms that the output of the new 

casting plant is destined for the automotive industry. 

Important aspects are the economical plant operation and the 

quality of the products. The quality-relevant advantages of continuously 

cast alloys are: low contents of hydrogen and oxide as 

well as non-metallic inclusions, fine-grained and uniform microstructure, 

uniform distribution of the alloying elements, no 

segregation due to gravitational effects, free from cracks, cavities 

and inclusions, great uniformity in the dimensions, straightness 

and weight of sections cut from the strand and smooth surface, 

which simplifies stacking, strapping and also dispatch. 

In consideration of economic aspects automation, output 

and availability of the plant play an important role. The horizontal 

continuous caster is designed for 32 strands of 90 mm 

x 54 mm. The height of the strands is different from the generally 

established standard dimension of 75 mm. The larger 

strand cross-section benefits a higher casting rate. 

Stacking, marking, strapping and weighing are integrated 

in the automated process using well-proven standard components. 

For stacking, Hertwich uses an industrial robot 

which, on the one hand, has the necessary degrees of freedom 

of movement but which is, at the same time, also designed 

for high accelerations or decelerations. 

Automatic strapping of the pile loops (Photo: Trimet) 

Besides monitoring the operation, the control system is 

also responsible for managing the administrative data and 

for documenting all operating parameters. Each individual 

working step is checked by special monitoring and diagnosis 

programs. In the event of deviations, the control system 

reacts immediately. 

www.trimet.eu/en 


K BROCHURES 

Equipment for aluminium production 

16 pages, English 

A brochure covering the solutions and products offered by Seven Refractories for 

the aluminium industry. It provides detailed and clearly structured information as to 

the types of refractories to be used in different furnaces and in the various furnace 

zones. 

Information: www.seven-refractories.com 

Machines and equipment for moulding sand preparation 


This brochure presents the Eirich mixing system, technical features of the mixers and 

advantages of the technology. The range of mixing equipment offered by Eirich 

includes individual mixing units and a wide range of systems for integrated and 

modular solutions with state-of-the-art process control. 

Information: www.eirich.com 

Automatic moisture control 


A brochure providing information on automatic moisture control at the batch mixer 

with sensor technology from Sensor Control. Examples of automatic water dosing 

systems, installation possibilities for moisture measuring probes and explanations 

about the measuring process are provided. 

Information: www.sensor-control.de 

Optical emission spectrometer 


This brochure features the Q4 Tasman advanced CCD-based optical emission spectrometer 

offered by Bruker. It sets out technical data of the different instrument 

models, the available analytical solution packages, electrical data, weights and 

dimensions, etc. 

Information: www.bruker-elemental.com 


Investment castings in no-bake sand 


This brochure provides an overview of equipment offered by Küttner for investment 

casting processes in no-bake sand. The equipment ranges from sand mixing, 

shaking-out and reclaiming equipment for a full cycle at one stop to fully automatic 

crane systems and complete systems even for large investment castings. 

Information: www.kuettner.com 

Furnace lining systems 


A brochure providing an overview of Foseco’s extensive portfolio of monolithic and 

precast refractory solutions for long-campaign cupola melting, coreless induction 

melting, channel holding and pouring furnaces in iron and steel foundries as well as 

various ancillary products. 

Information: www.foseco.com 

Melting, holding and heating solutions for aluminium 


A brochure setting out process line solutions in aluminium casting provided by 

Andritz. Featured in this brochure are furnaces for melting and holding as well as 

pusher-type furnaces and pit and car bottom furnaces for heating and homogenizing. 

The furnaces are designed for minimum energy consumption. 

Information: www.andritz.com 

Management consulting 


A company brochure setting out the services offered by KW Consulting Group, an 

independent, industry-focused consulting company. The services include singlesource 

management requirement solutions for mid-size foundries as well as for 

national and international metal industry companies. 

Information: www.kwcg.de 


K INTERNATIONAL FAIRS AND CONGRESSES 

Fairs and Congresses 

13th Edition of IFEX – International Foundry Exhibition 

February, 3-5, 2017, Kolkata/India 

http://ifexindia.com 

65th Indian Foundry Congress 2017 

February, 3-5, 2017, Kolkata/India 

www.indianfoundry.org 

6th International Foundry Congress & Exhibition 

February, 15-16, 2017, Lahore/Pakistan 

www.pfa.org.pk/info/6th-ifce/21/0 

South African Metal Casting Conference 2017 

March, 14-17, 2017, Kempton Park/South Africa 

http://metalcastingconference.co.za 

Advertisers‘ Index 

Giesserei Verlag GmbH 52 

GTP Schäfer GmbH 47 

Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai Ltd. 13 

Imerys Refractory Minerals 18, 19 

Metef Srl 9 

TCT TESIC GmbH 29 


K IMPRINT 

PREVIEW / IMPRINT K 

Preview of the next issue 

Publication date: March 2017 

With its state-of-the-art technical equipment the Schmiedeberg Gießerei has a unique abundance of possibilities in the production of castings 

weighing a few kg up to almost half a ton (Photo: Michael Vehreschild) 

Selection of topics: 

M. Vehreschild: On the way to the intelligent factory 

The Schmiedeberger Gießerei invested around 6.5 million euros in the efficiency of its business processes. With the new ERP system, 

the foundry makes a decisive step towards an intelligent factory. And additional investments in robotics and 3-D printing processes 

will follow. 

M. Vehreschild: Basibüyük Group on expansion course 

Foundries are now increasingly outsourcing their casting finishing processes. One of the first addresses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and 

the Netherlands is the Basibüyük Group from Mülheim-Kärlich. Within six years, the number of employees doubled to a total of 500 - with 

the trend pointing upwards. 

F. Hartung: Patented environmental technology for foundries 

Foundries continue to be an important industry, but have to adhere to high environmental standards in many regions of the world. The 

Copenhagen-based company Infuser has developed an innovative solutions that enable foundries to economically reduce contamination by 

harmful substances or odors by up to 99.99 %. 

Imprint 

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Ger man Foundry As so ci a tion 

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ISSN 0935-7262 


Are you ready for the future? 

The GIESSEREI SPECIAL Research and Innovation with 

specialist articles in German and English shows how new 

knowledge can be successfully implemented economically. 

Topics of the brand-new edition: 

> What does Industry 4.0 mean in 

casting technology? 

> Salt cores in die-casting 

> Intelligent Data Acquisition 

(IDA) 

> Determination of BTEX 

from molding material 

pyrolysis 

NEW 

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now! 

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CPT International 04/2016

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