Annual report 2009 - Siempelkamp

Pattern making Molding shop Casting simulations
Shared engineering – for best possible customer benefi ts
All departments involved in product development take part in an intensive exchange of ideas and experiences. From the beginning on
we connect the frame criteria of the casting technology, such as the pouring position and allowable stresses, with the needs of our
customers. We call this integrated development ‘Shared Engineering’. In order to supply our customers with the best-possible solutions,
teamwork ranks fi rst for us. Furthermore, the certifi cation according to DIN EN ISO 9001 guarantees a reproducible production process
in all areas of the Siempelkamp Foundry.
This process offers a large degree of design freedom and allows comparatively thin and stable structures, for example, in the center of
a casting as well as in highly stressed places. Varying cross sections can be streamlined in order to minimize stress concentrations.
Pattern making represents the beginning of our services following the engineering: First designs lead to 3-D models which are
introduced to our customers before the detailed development starts. With the help of FEM calculations, the models are stressed under
simulated working conditions with static and dynamic stresses. During the next step, our engineers test the model in a prototype
simulation. Thereupon, the forces, required services as well as the dimensions of the component parts take shape.
According to the resulting calculations, wooden patterns are constructed which are available to the molding shop of the foundry after
comprehensive testing. The next step involves the mold making. During this process, precision and cost control have to be conciliated.
In order to keep the production costs as low as possible, optimized molding pits or boxes are used for the casting. This process step
has an early infl uence on the quality of the fi nished casting, and therefore requires high precision. Questions involving the best pouring
position and the arrangement of the foundry cores have to be answered at this time. Last but not least the order and geometry of the
casting sprues determine how the molten iron fl ows into the pattern, how it is being distributed and fi nally, how it cools.
Nodular graphite cast iron: competence with international standing
Let us now focus on the material and process and with it on our core competence, which is casting with nodular graphite cast iron. As
one of the world’s biggest hand-molding foundries, Siempelkamp has specialized in the casting of large structural components made
of cast iron with nodular graphite. Our casters have the specifi c metallurgic know-how to set the optimal conditions for the solidifi cation
process during crystallization of the matrix and the graphite nodules even for thick-walled components. There are only a few foundries
in the world that have this specifi c knowledge! Some of our castings have been true records.