CPT International 04/2016

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
Casting Plant & Technology 4 / 2016 21