Foundrymag

The Česká Zbrojovka foundry at Strakonice, Czech Republic, installed a StrikoWestofen shaft melting furnace (known as the StrikoMelter) in 1998; operators realized the melting performance had declined, but they preferred modernization to replacement. The furnace designers focused on furnace lining as the strategy to increase productivity and energy efficiency....More

With the rise of continuous energy improvement programs, manufacturers are discovering that energy can make a significant impact on your productivity and bottom line. Some manufacturers save, on average, 20% after they adopt a CEI program. If you don’t yet have an energy management program, or can’t get your decision-makers to buy in, you can still find ways to move your plant in the right direction. Start small with these simple energy-saving opportunities to cut your utility costs today....More

Dotson Iron Castings in Mankato, Minnesota, placed an order with Inductotherm Corp. in Rancocas, NJ for a 3,500-kW VIP Dual-Trak induction power control unit and two, four-metric-ton furnaces controlled by the PLC-based Meltminder® 300™ computerized control system, and overseen by the iSense™ melt shop data visualization system, which helps to “sense” the diagnostic health of melt shop equipment, anytime and from anywhere....More

VR and technical 3D animations allow metalcasting engineering teams to collaborate efficiently at the earliest stages to ensure a design is exactly what is wanted, to ensure better products and processes for production....More

New software for simulating sand coremaking and corebox designs, including several core making processes, in combination with traditional casting process simulation software, significantly improves casting quality and cost....More

Regulatory changes will mandate unprecedented levels of controls to contain employee exposure to airborne silica. General Kinematics has been working with foundries since the 1960s and remains on the leading edge of equipment and system designs that offer long-term solutions for worker safety and cost-effectiveness and worker safety....More

Aston Martin confirmed Grainger & Worrall as its preferred engine castings supplier for the new DB11, a luxury sports car powered by a newly developed 5,204-cc, twin-turbo V12 engine. It is the first turbocharged vehicle Aston Martin has developed for series production....More

The ordeal we have been having for 18 months reveals the defects of our civilization, and maybe its demise. One day we may realize what we’ve lost....More

Metal-matrix composite casting is not new, but it’s a complex, difficult, and expensive process. While there are potentially lucrative applications in aerospace, automotive, and other sectors, the MMC advantage may be slipping away from metalcasters....More

Skuld LLC is a metalcasting company started up in 2015, with experience in lost-foam casting and some practical and visionary ideas about how to apply additive manufacturing techniques....More

Alumalloy Metalcasting Co. has 104 employees in an 110,000-sq.ft.uare-foot foundry and machine shop, supplying aluminum cast parts and finished subassemblies to global manufacturers of heavy trucks, autos, and industrial equipment. Secondary machining generates 40% of its revenue....More

At a Groupe PSA diesel engine plant, piston rings are inspected using an automated scanning system: high-accuracy Keyence CCD laser-displacement sensors complete about 2,500 measurements instantaneously....More

SMBs are moving their business systems to the Cloud at an increasing rate. The majority of these companies have concluded the benefits far outpace the risks in this decision....More

To comply with emerging federal regulations for managing airborne silica dust, foundries first must focus on the primary source of airborne silica dust, specifically shakeout and sand carryover processes. Choosing the right shakeout equipment can reduce the volume of airborne dust by effectively containing sand as it is separated from castings....More

3DP is maturing as an industry and this is impacting manufacturing. Companies expect it to factor into their high-volume production programs soon, and their concerns are growing that 3DP will disrupt supply chains and threaten intellectual property....More

When the normal sinusoidal wave that feeds ordinary electrical appliances becomes distorted, it not only contains the original waveform, the fundamental, but also a series of higher-frequency sinusoidal waveforms that are multiples of the original waveform frequency. Harmonic distortion could be defined as the deviation of the voltage and/or current waveforms from the fundamental waveform....More

Casting Technology International Ltd. has advanced its novel Replicast process to produce steel impellers that achieve the inherently challenging narrow passageways that are critical to a pump’s operation....More

Every market adjusts rationally to irrational developments, so what should we suppose will happen now that domestic policies and global macroeconomics are guiding large U.S. businesses to prioritize savings over growth...More

In metalcasting, choices have to be made, often setting cost against performance. Induction melting offers managers and operators a way to optimize productivity and product quality objectives....More

The Harvard Business Review claimed, “3D printing is changing the way we think”; business owners who dismiss this as more academia rhetoric are making a mistake....More

Electric field processing influences alloy crystallization, including the structural and other sensitive characteristics....More

3D scanning, 3D CAD, cloud, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the new wave of metalcasting technology. Learn what it takes to get there....More

Each year FM&T surveys metalcasters to measure the outlook of men and women working in North America’s foundries and diecasting plants....More

The Internet of Things is changing everything from the way you manufacture products to the way you collect data and share information....More

The standard for selecting a leader is the evidence of his or her character: Can we trust him or her to subordinate ideology and opportunity … More important now is the character of the electorate. Can we tame our anxiety and self-absorption?...More

Cornell Forge operators replaced two ‘tumblast’ machines with a single low-maintenance unit....More

Ignorance may seem funny, but ignoring the truth is foolish, and hiding facts under the pretense of some greater good is more devious than foolish....More

LIFT’s new research initiative aims to develop vacuum-aided diecasting methods for aerospace, defense, and automotive manufacturing....More

Epcor Foundries won new business thanks to ESI’s QuikCast simulation software help designing a better mold....More

Federal-Mogul Powertrain has a new aluminum alloy it claims will increase performance and efficiency of diesel engine pistons....More

ExOne Co. established the Design and Re-Engineering for Additive Manufacturing (DREAM) Center, to help customers “explore and implement” the advantages of its binder jet technology....More

Metalcasters use MAGMA5 to simulate mold filling, solidification and cooling. More critically, the software improves product design....More

L&L Special Furnace a two-chamber, high-uniformity annealing installation for a manufacturer of aerospace fasteners and connectors....More

Metalcasters work to capture the production process details, understand them, and apply that knowledge....More

AB&I Foundry has adopted a hydrogen-based welding and cutting fuel, citing safety and efficiency factors....More

Wohlers Associates Inc. issued its latest annual report and analysis of 3D printing and additive manufacturing — an industrial technology that just keeps building volume....More

Intellectual property is the basis of wealth in our age. Accumulating greater and greater volumes of it is a latter-day gold rush....More

Navistar’s Waukesha, WI, foundry has been sold to Renaissance Manufacturing Group, a local private investment group....More

Maus S.r.l., is forming a North American sales and manufacturing joint venture with Palmer Manufacturing & Supply Inc., to be headquartered in Springfield, OH....More

A Chinese steelmaker will be the first to test a new dust extraction and filtration system, developed by the SMS Group....More

To be human is to doubt, to reserve a share of uncertainty. This is a problem for modern times, one that cannot be solved by engineering or technology or global market economics....More

"Chills" are effective for controlling heat loss in metal casting but there are difficulties perfecting the technique....More

GIW Industries will open a new iron foundry in Grovetown, GA, in April, part of a five-year expansion program....More