CPT International 02/2017

www.giesserei.eu 

June 

2017 

CASTING 

PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY 

INTERNATIONAL 

2 

FRP – the digital transformation 

of metal casting industry

EDITORIAL 

Adjusting screws 

to optimize casting! 

In the foundries of the 21st century it is no longer merely a matter of mass 

production with maximum productivity, but increasingly making castings of 

higher quality, with greater energy efficiency, greater flexibility – and thus 

increased future-orientation. The issue that you are currently holding offers 

some examples of this. There is, for example, the expert analysis by Heinz 

Kadelka from Linde Gas in Düsseldorf, who has examined the current possibilities 

of pre-warming ladles by means of porous burners and natural gas oxygen 

burners. Turn to P. 10 to find out which burner system could optimize 

your casting process. 

The specialist article by Steffen Geisweid and Dennis Wolzenburg from Heinrich 

Wagner Sinto is another highlight. They report on the installation of a 

high-tech EFA-SD Seiatsu.plus molding plant and P-30-M casting plant at 

M. Busch in Wehrstapel, Germany. These so-called Foundry 3plus systems 

represent the current state-of-the-art in modern molding plant construction. 

Find out more on P. 20. 

There are also numerous possibilities for improving casting technology – 

whether by optimizing production with ANSYS Space-Claim software, used at 

Eisenwerke Erla in Schwarzenberg (from P. 24), by simulating castings with 

Magmasoft at the large Chinese FAW automotive foundry in Changchun (from 

P. 26), or through the use of 3-D printers at the Industry 4.0 Christenguss 

foundry in Switzerland (from P. 30). The aims that they all share are always 

greater flexibility, higher quality, and the maximum possible exploitation of 

design freedom during casting. 

This issue is also dedicated to a topic that is sometimes only mentioned at the 

fringes of the foundry sector, but which should receive far more attention: 

safety at work. The global player Georg Fischer (GF) from Schaffhausen in Switzerland 

has declared war on sources of danger at foundries with its zero-risk 

campaign: awareness of this topic among the workforce has been raised with 

poster motifs and a variety of events. The result: the accident rate has fallen 

considerably. Tina Köhler, head of communications at GF, stresses that many 

people still consider foundries to be dangerous places. “We need to get away 

from this image, so we have to do something about safety at work,” she is 

convinced. More about this on P. 32. 

Have a good read ! 

Robert Piterek 

e-mail: robert.piterek@bdguss.de 

Casting Plant & Technology 2 / 2017 3

FEATURES 

INTERVIEW 

with Christopher Boss 

“EUROGUSS is to become an even better refection of the industry” 6 

MATERIALS 

Strunz, Alexander 

High-performance tungsten-based materials enable 

improved casting process 8 

Cover-Photo: 

RGU GmbH 

Karl-Harr Str. 1 

44263 Dortmund 

Tel.: +49 (0) 231 419970 

Fax: +49 (0) 231 41997-99 

info@rgu.de 

www.rgu.de 

The software company RGU, which has 

provided the cover image to us, focuses 

exclusively on foundries. FRP stands for 

Foundry Resource Planning (derived from 

Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP). Read 

more on RGU on page 43. 

MELTING SHOP 

Kadelka, Heinz; Weber, Mike 

Ladle heating examined under the aspects of energy 

 

CASTING TECHNOLOGY 

Geisweid, Steffen; Wolzenburg, Dennis 

Commissioning of Foundry 3plus at M. Busch in Wehrstapel 20 

SIMULATION 

Tosse, Thomas 

Quicker solution concepts with ANSYS SpaceClaim 24 

Baosheng, Lu 

Manufacturability of a cylinder block sand core 26 

 

xx 10 xx 20 

How do porous burners perform in camparison to natural 

 

Linde Gas and Gienanth foundry (Photo: Linde Gas) 

With the commissioning of Foundry 3plus the German 

foundry M.Busch has made one of the largest investments 

of its company history (Photo: M. Busch)

CASTING 

2 | 2017 

PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY 

INTERNATIONAL 

AUTOMATION 

Dizdarevic, Mirela 

On the way to “Casting 4.0” 30 

WORK SAFETY 

Piterek, Robert 

On course for a new safety culture 32 

CLEANING, FETTLING & FINISHING 

Paarmann, Ralf 

The future is big! 36 

COMPANY 

Beste, Dieter 

Matthies Druckguss: combining tradtion with innovation 40 

COLUMNS 

Editorial 3 

News in brief 43 

Brochures 48 

Fairs and congresses/Ad index 50 

Preview/Imprint 51 

xx 30 

With its vision of Guss 4.0, Christenguss AG of Bergdietikon in Switzerland is also blazing the trail into a digital future. The 

foundry manufactures complex sand casting molds in a 3-D printing process. Florian Christen, CEO of a traditional family 

business in its fourth generation sees his company as an innovation technology leader (Photo: Christenguss AG)

INTERVIEW 

“EUROGUSS is to become an even 

better refection of the industry” 

From 16 to 18 January 2018, the European die castings sector will meet once again in Nuremberg 

at the EUROGUSS trade fair. The exhibitors’ applications are ongoing, the trade fair preparations 

in full swing. We spoke to Christopher Boss (31), the new Director Exhibitions, about the 

development of EUROGUSS and the international involvement of the NürnbergMesse Group in 

the die casting sector. Boss has a degree in business science, has been in the trade fair and exhibition 

branch for around 10 years and has worked for NürnbergMesse for around one year. 

EUROGUSS 2016 was the most successful 

ever staged. With around 580 exhibitors, 

more than 12,000 visitors and 

the additionally-occupied exhibition 

hall, it set new records. You recently 

took over as Director Exhibitions from 

Heike Slotta, who in future – continuing 

her strong bond with EUROGUSS 

– will be increasingly involved strategically. 

Which objectives have you set 

yourself for the coming fair? 

In Europe, EUROGUSS is the leading trade 

fair for the entire die-casting value-added 

chain: from raw materials through to 

technology and processes up to finished 

products. I was fortunate to immediately 

experience the fair live already in my 

second week at work and I’m delighted 

to continue to be involved in future in 

shaping this meeting place which is recognized 

and popular in the sector. 

In terms of both exhibitors as well as 

visitors, EUROGUSS has in recent years 

recorded impressive growth rates. My 

objective, together with the team, is to 

continue this growth trend. In 2018, 

we are seeking to break the 600-mark 

for exhibitors and further increase internationality. 

How would you like to reach this objective? 

Since I started at NürnbergMesse, I’ve 

been travelling a lot to customers and 

events at home and abroad. I have conducted 

numerous, interesting, specialist 

discussions and meetings aimed at 

getting to know the sector better and 

finding out which adjustments we can 

make in order to establish EUROGUSS 

even more strongly as a mirror for 

Christopher Boss is new Director Exhibitions of the EUROGUSS Trade fair in Nuremberg, 

Germany (Photo: NürnbergMesse) 

the sector. We will retain the product 

range core of the event, but further 

extend the range depth. The focus of 

EUROGUSS will continue to be Europe. 

Of course, die casting is in particular 

dependent on the automotive sector, 

but we will also be increasingly inviting 

target groups from other sectors to 

EUROGUSS, for whom the die casting 

process with its many advantages offers 

a genuine alternative. 

Are there changes to the trade fair 

concept? 

The EUROGUSS concept has proved 

itself most effectively. This is confirmed 

to us not only by the fantastic 

exhibitor and visitor figures from the 

last event, but also by the top ratings 

awarded in the exhibitors’ and visitors’ 

survey. 98 % of the visitors surveyed 

stated that they were satisfied with the 

range presented at the fair and 94 % of 

exhibitors assess their trade fair participation 

as an overall success. So we 

should not tinker with the trade fair 

concept in general. Nevertheless, it is 

necessary to further refine the concept 

and extend the trade fair range to include 

attractive formats. 

What should exhibitors and visitors 

look forward to at the next EURO- 

GUSS in 2018? 

The exhibitors’ applications process 

is going very well. Three quar- 

6 Casting Plant & Technology 2 / 2017

ters of exhibition space is already 

booked around 10 months before 

the event. Many exhibitors have enlarged 

their stands. Of course, all the 

market leaders are once again present, 

but new exhibitors are also on 

board. The theme of surface technology, 

which was highlighted for 

the first time at EUROGUSS 2016, is 

being extended further and presented 

in a pavilion. The “Forschung, die 

Wissen schafft” (Research for Knowledge) 

special show, where the latest 

research projects from universities 

and technical colleges are presented, 

has been popular with the trade visitors 

for years. It too will of course also 

be part of the event again. The exhibitors 

and visitors can also look forward 

to interesting lectures and presentations 

on current themes and issues 

at the “Internationaler Deutscher 

Druckgusstag” (International German 

Die Casting Congress) specialist 

event, which is being organized by 

our esteemed partner, the Verband 

Deutscher Druckgießereien (VDD, 

Association of German Die-Casting 

Foundries). 

There will be excitement surrounding 

the award presentations for the 

International Aluminium Die Casting 

Competition and the Zinc Die 

Casting Competition. As you can see, 

there is once again a great deal on offer 

at EUROGUSS. 

In addition to EUROGUSS in Nuremberg, 

the NürnbergMesse Group, 

within the framework of its internationalization 

strategy, has indeed for 

several years also been successfully 

staging die casting trade fairs and 

exhibitions worldwide, for example 

in China and India. What advantages 

does that bring to the company? 

Yes, that is correct. For several years, 

the NürnbergMesse Group has been 

strengthening the positioning of its 

successful events at the home location 

of Nuremberg through so-called 

product families worldwide. That 

means in the case of EUROGUSS that 

this event is functioning as the mother 

of the product family so to speak 

and has offshoots in attractive foreign 

markets outside Europe. As an 

international product manager, I am 

trying to make use of the synergy effects 

between the individual members 

of the product family in the various 

markets. It is important for us that 

these events are always perfectly tailored 

to the requirements of their respective 

markets. We are accompanying 

our customers on their way into 

these exciting and prospering markets 

and offering them the proven exhibition 

quality and service they are 

familiar with from Nuremberg. In this 

connection, for example last December, 

the largest die casting trade fair 

in India was held with around 140 

exhibitors, ALUCAST, organized and 

staged by NürnbergMesse India. According 

to forecasts, the Indian die 

casting market offers great growth 

potential for European companies. 

The date for the next ALUCAST is 6 

to 8 December 2018 in Delhi. In China 

too, the largest die casting market 

in the world, we have been active 

since 2013 and are involved in shaping 

the dynamic development of the 

CHINA DIECASTING trade fair in 

Shanghai through our subsidiary 

NürnbergMesse China. Last year, 

CHINA DIECASTING registered 295 

exhibitors and 12,027 trade visitors. 

The next fair will be held from 19 to 

21 July 2017. We are expecting around 

350 exhibitors and 15,000 trade visitors. 

www.nuernbergmesse.de/en 

your competent partner 

for Cast Iron ! 

Gray cast iron up to 70 t 

Nodular cast iron up to 50 t 

Steel cast 

up to 6 t 

Mechanical processing 

Painting 

Dimensions: length: 14,5 m 

Ø 7 m 

weight 70 t 

EMDE Industrie-Technik GmbH D-39418 Staßfurt 

+49 (0) 39 25 - 985 0 www.emde.de info@emde.de 


MATERIALS 

Alexander Strunz, Munich 

High-performance tungsten-based 

materials enable improved casting 

process 

Bayerische Metallwerke GmbH, Dachau, Germany, offers an innovative material for casting tool 

construction with its product family Triamet A, a tungsten-based heavy metal alloy that can 

withstand more frequent temperature changes 

Fire cracks and corrosion are the most 

common types of casting tool damage 

in light metal casting. Usually such damage 

reduces product quality, which may 

worsen even further under some circumstances 

due to adhesion or inadequate 

heat dissipation. With its Triamet A product 

family, a tungsten-based heavy metal 

alloy, Bayerische Metallwerke GmbH offers 

an innovative and ecological alternative 

that avoids these problems. Thanks 

to a tungsten content of up to 98 %, the 

Triamet A materials withstand the stresses 

of frequent temperature changes in 

the casting process over the long term 

and set themselves apart with high corrosion 

resistance compared to aluminium 

and copper alloys. 

With many types of hot work steel 

used in light metal casting for the production 

of tools, the hardness and 

strength decrease relatively quickly 

due to the high thermal stresses. Crack 

formation caused by thermal fatigue of 

the material is common. This can reduce 

the quality of the end product 

and lead to significant financial costs 

The Triamet A materials are used primarily in 

gravity diecasting and high-pressure diecasting, 

for instance for the production of aluminium 

rims and cylinder heads 

(Photos: Wolfram Industry) 


and time expenditures for repair work 

and loss of use. 

With the Triamet A product series, 

Bayerische Metallwerke GmbH offers 

various tungsten-based alloys that can 

avoid these problems. Tools made of 

Triamet A are highly resistant to liquid 

aluminium and magnesium. This can 

increase the service life by 10 to 500 

times compared to conventional materials, 

depending on the field of application 

and the type of casting process. 

The negligibly small alloy formation 

tendency and the formation of a natural 

separating layer counteract sticking 

of the work piece to the casting mold, 

which has a positive impact on product 

quality as well. 

Low thermal expansion co- 

 

Fire cracks in casting molds are caused 

mainly by thermal fatigue due to alternating 

compressive and tensile stress 

on the tools. The lower the thermal 

conductivity and the higher the thermal 

expansion coefficient of a material, 

the greater this stress will be. Compared 

to the commonly used steel, the 

thermal conductivity of Triamet A at 

70 to 105 W/mK is about 3 to 5 times 

higher while the thermal expansion 

coefficient at 5.2-6.5 [10 -6 K -1 ] is simultaneously 

only about 50 %. This greatly 

reduces stresses in the tool. The high 

resistance to temperature changes significantly 

reduces the fire cracking tendency 

and therefore greatly increases 

the service life. 

 

 

binder phase 

Bayerische Metallwerke GmbH uses a 

nickel and iron binder phase (Figure 1) 

for the production of Triamet A, added 

to the tungsten powder at the rate of 2 

– 10 %. Nickel acts as a catalyst that accelerates 

diffusion processes on the surface 

of the tungsten power and thereby 

reduces the sintering temperature by 

about 1,000 °C. Subsequently the Triamet 

green parts are sintered at about 

1,500 °C – in contrast to the 2,500 °C 

required for pure tungsten – so that a 

unique microstructure with a spherical 

tungsten phase encased by the 

binder phase is formed. All Triamet A 

series products set themselves apart 

with a very high density from 17.0 

± 0.15 g/cm 3 for Triamet A17 to about 18.8 

± 0.2 g/cm 3 for A19. 

The Triamet A materials are used 

primarily in gravity die casting and 

high-pressure die casting, for instance 

for the production of aluminium rims 

and cylinder heads. 

Figure 1: The lower the proportion of the binder phase, the higher the density will be. 

However, the ductility of the heavy metal also increases as the binder proportion rises 

http://wolfram-industrie.de/en 


used for ladle heating and holding at operating temperature (Photos & Graphics: Linde Gas) 

Heinz Kadelka, Linde Gas, Düsseldorf, and Mike Weber, Gienanth GmbH, Eisenberg 

Ladle heating examined under the 

 

cost optimization 

 

 

ers 

employed to heat ladles used for pouring and treating melts of grey cast, ductile or compacted 

graphite iron 

Field experiment 

The objectives of the experiment were to 

examine the economic efficiency, flexibility, 

energy efficiency, service life, sintering 

and temperature changes during 

and associated with ladle heating. The 

tests were conducted with a 4-t pouring 

ladle for cast iron melts. They involved 

the heating of the ladle by porous burners 

and natural gas/oxygen burners. 

Background 

Ladles account for a significant share of 

the total energy input in iron melting 

processes. They have to be heated to operating 

temperature and then continu- 


above the inside bottom 

All in 

one line 

M3: In the middle of the refractory 

 

inside bottom 

 

 

the inside bottom 

Figure 1: 

ously held at that temperature. This is 

to be performed with maximum efficiency 

and flexibility, while subjecting 

the ladle to fewest possible temperature 

changes, in order to maximize the lining 

life and minimize ladle repair. 

980 

900 

Temperature measurement in the 

 

 

Test set-up 

Figure 1 shows the positions of the 

thermocouples in the refractory lining 

of the 4-t pouring ladle. 

Inherent energy content of 

a pouring ladle at operating 

temperature 

Through-heating of a ladle depends 

largely on the heat content of the refractory 

material, especially the superheating 

of the inside surface zone. After 

the molten metal has been filled 

into the ladle, the thermal energy 

from the melt is introduced into the 

ladle and transferred towards the outside 

via the refractory lining. Especially, 

the reading at measuring point M 1, 

at 2.5 cm from the inside refractory surface, 

shows a pronounced temperature 

rise (approx. 970 °C; Figure 2) after the 

molten iron has been filled into the ladle. 

For the here presented experiment, 

the ladle was filled with 3 t of molten 

iron, simulating optimal through-heating. 

After 8 min, the melt was poured. 

At that stage, the first 2.5 cm of the refractory 

lining thickness were superheated 

(Figure 3). Within this surface 

layer of only 2.5 cm thickness, a temperature 

difference of more than 550 °C 

Temperature in °C 

820 

740 

660 

580 

500 

 

M3 

 

M2 

 

420 

12:01:26 12:02:53 12:04:19 12:05:46 12:07:12 12:07:12 12:10:05 12:11:31 12:12:58 

Figure 2: Heating of the refractory lining by the melt for approx. 8 min. Thermal be- 

 

the iron melt in the ladle at 12 o’clock: 1,501 °C 

between the surface and M 1 was measured. 

In case of ladle preheating by 

burners, it is recommended that care 

should be taken to ensure that this heat 

content be input by the burner. Otherwise 

it would be extracted from melt. 

Time in min 

Resistance to temperature 

changes 

When ladles are being filled with molten 

metal, the inside surface layer of the 

ladles heats up. The temperature transfer 

from the melt is lower when the temperature 

of this layer is already at a high 

level before the molten metal is filled in, 

(figure 3). When this layer is “cold” or 

has not been heated up to a sufficiently 

high level, the temperature changes 

will be great, leading to early wear, 

short lifetimes and slag caking in the ladles. 

After pouring, this energy content 

is transferred into the interior of the refractory 

lining via the superheated surface 

zone, as shown in figure 3. 


MELTING SHOP 

Cooling down of the refractory 

material 

In Figure 4, this process can be observed 

to take place at M 3 for a period 

of approximately 30 min from 14:04 to 

14:20 h. The thermal energy is introduced 

into the refractory material like a 

wave, resulting in a rise in temperature. 

The superheated mass in the surface layer 

of the refractory lining (walls and bottom) 

can be assumed to amount to more 

than 200 kg. Heat content: approx. 4 to 

5 m 3 of natural gas. Even if the inside ladle 

surface is already “cold” (dark red), 

a few millimeters down into the refractory 

lining temperatures clearly above 

1,200 °C must be expected. 

Criteria for the comparison 

The basic objective was to achieve natural 

conditions as described above 

as “the inherent energy content of a 

pouring ladle at operating temperature”. 

For the investigated 4-t pouring 

ladle, the temperature level in the middle 

of the refractory lining was used as 

a basis of reference. The objective was 

to heat the ladle by means of the different 

burner systems in such a way 

that these temperatures were reliably 

reached and held at a constant level. 

During the experiment, at measurement 

point M3 in the middle of the refractory 

lining temperatures between 

approx. 640 °C and approx. 660 °C 

were measured. At M1 near the inside 

surface, temperatures above 820 °C 

were to be reached, in order to achieve 

the same temperature level as a ladle in 

the actual production process. 


1600 

1440 

1280 

1120 

960 

800 

 

 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 

Distance from inside surface in mm 

Figure 3: Heat transfer into the inside refractory surface zone (2.5 mm); M1 the surface 

temperature corresponds to the molten iron temperature, idealized (after “8 min”) 


850 

800 

750 

14:04:53 

854°C 

 

700 

15:04 

M3 

652 °C 

650 639°C 

605 °C 

600 

550 

M2 

559 °C 

572 °C 

500 

14:02:24 14:09:36 14:16:48 14:24:00 14:31:12 14:38:24 14:45:36 14:52:48 15:00:00 

Time in min 

Figure 4: Temperature curves after the melt was poured, with the ladle covered and 

without use of burner 

Preliminary considerations 

concerning the ladle management 

and current practice 

Ladle heating by means of porous 

burners, as currently practiced in the 

foundry, was used as the reference for 

assessing the economic efficiency. Actually, 

the current situation could already 

be optimized by simple means, 

e.g. improved ladle covering in connection 

with a precisely controlled 

natural gas/air ratio. Also thermocouples 

installed in the ladle lid, which 

would control or interrupt the operation 

of the burner as required after 

reaching the pre-defined temperatures, 

would provide an improvement. 

Creating awareness among the operating 

staff may also lead to a significant 

reduction in energy use. Only after 

these conventional measures have 

been implemented should the reference 

situation be re-defined. This situation 

should be used as decision basis 

for future heating strategies. The comparison 

was based on the neutral cost 

assumption, including of course technical 

oxygen costs. Generally, it is attempted 

to achieve an optimal or physically 

feasible situation as well as the 

effect of “near-surface zone superheating”, 

in a cost-neutral way no matter 

which type of burner system was used. 

Heating of the 4-t pouring ladle 

by natural/gas oxygen 

burners (oxyfuel burners) 

After 90 min, the self-defined target 

was reached attaining a temperature of 

649 °C. At 2.5 cm from the inside surface, 

the temperature reached 832 °C 

(Figure 5), which corresponds to the 


MELTING SHOP 

temperature attained in the ladle at operating 

temperature after melt filling (figure 

2: 823 °C). The surface temperature of 

the refractory lining was securely above 

1,550 °C, which is in line with other measurements. 

The burner achieved a degree 

of efficiency (ETA v) of 71 %. 

Heating of the 4-t pouring ladle 

by porous burners 

Porous burners 

The current design provides the possibility 

of individual height adjustment. 

The burner roof is suitable for almost 

all ladle diameters. The ladles are covered 

in such a way that there is only a 

small open gap at the circumference. 

Waste gas removal is via a tube integrated 

into the roof. The combustion 

gas and the combustion air are guided 

through porous ceramic material 

and ignited inside a high-temperature-resistant 

stainless steel tube. The 

tube, which is connected with the ladle 

lid, is lowered down into the ladle 

until the burner sits on the ladle rim. 

The combustion gases will then rise between 

the inside ladle wall and the outside 

burner tube. 

Constraints 

For material-technological reasons, 

the gas temperature must not exceed 

a certain limit. In the experiment, 

the temperature was not to exceed 

1,000 °C (thermocouple at the outside 

of the burner tube). Iron foundry 

Gienanth in Eisenberg defined the 

target temperature at 1,000 °C (taking 

into account design-related and material-specific 

requirements to avoid excessive 

thermal stress). 

Parameters of the experiments 

Natural gas input was determined to 

be 12.44 m 3 /h; the maximum temperature 

measured at the surface of 

the burner tube was 1,020 °C. The maximal 

waste gas temperature was just below 

1,000 °C. From these facts it can 

be derived that heat transfer into the 

refractory material does take place at 

this temperature. 

Achievement of target temperatures 

at the measuring points in the refractory 

lining 

Refractory temperature in °C 

With a total energy input of 56 m 3 of 

natural gas and after an average heating 

time of 4.5 h , 538 °C were measured 

at M3 in the middle of the refractory 

lining. At 2.5 cm from the 

inside surface, 650 °C were measured 

(M1, ). The efficiency relative 

to the temperature in the middle 

of the refractory lining was calculated 

to amount to approx. 47 %. The porous 

burner failed to reach the target 

of heating the ladle to operating temperatures 

(> 640 °C) at neutral costs 

(538 °C). Consequently porous burners 

are unable to achieve the effect of 

surface zone superheating. 

General comparison of the 

preheating performance 

After approx. 4.5 h (270 min), heating 

by means of the porous burner 

achieved a temperature of 538 °C (ETA 

v 47 %). In contrast, the oxyfuel burner 

achieved this temperature already after 

1.22 h (73 min), (ETA v 71 %). The 

oxyfuel burner reached the temperature 

level of the porous burner (538 °C) 

with approx. 10 % less energy costs (in- 

Figure 5: Heating of a 4-t ladle to operating temperature by means of a natural gas/oxy- 

2 


680 

560 

440 

320 

200 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

 

Start 

 

 

 

10:04:48 10:19:12 10:33:36 10:48:00 11:02:24 11:16:48 11:31:12 11:45:36 12:00:00 

 

 

 

Start 

 

 

Time axis in min 

Heating curve of a porous burner. Comparison of a porous burners with an O 2 

burner 

M3 

M2 

 

 

 

 

 

80 

08:24:00 09:36:00 10:48:00 12:00:00 13:12:00 14:24:00 

M3 

M2 

Heating time in min 

 

 


cluding technical oxygen) (Figure 7). 

Prolonging the heating time of the porous 

burner leads only to an insignificant 

increase in temperature. At the 

same time, the efficiency (ETA v) decreases 

dramatically. In the experiments, 

the oxyfuel burner achieved 

the actual temperature level of the ladle 

in the casting process already after 

90 min (649 °C). Corresponding 

comparisons are provided in figures 2 

and 5. The energy input to make up 

the difference in temperatures in the 

refractory lining measured in M3 in 

case of porous burner use (538 °C) and 

in case of oxyfuel burner use (649 °C) 

has to be compensated by thermal energy 

transferred from the molten metal 

(higher tapping temperature) into the 

refractory lining. However, it would 

be more useful to employ burners to 

achieve this exchange of energy rather 

than to accept the negative metallurgical 

effects of an excessively high 

tapping temperature. 


600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

73 min 

 

 

 

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 

Figure 7: Heating curves of a porous burner versus a natural gas/oxygen burner 

 

 

M3 porous burner 

 

Time in min 

267 min 

 

gies 

on the temperature 

 

With the melt being tapped from the 

induction furnace at almost identical 

temperatures in both cases 

(1,530/1,531 °C), 3 min after ladle filling 

the temperature difference between 

porous burner use and oxyfuel burner 

use amounts to 29 K (1498/1469 °C), af- 

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MELTING SHOP 

ter another 5 min the difference has increased 

to 63 K (Figure 8). In the experiment, 

temperature losses of 125 °C were 

measured in the ladle heated with the 

porous burner. In the ladle heated with 

the oxyfuel burner, temperature losses 

of only 61 K were found – a difference 

of 64 K between the two burner types. 

From this a potential for lowering the 

tapping temperature in the induction 

furnace can be derived. The advantage: 

Cost savings on electrical energy and 

proven metallurgical benefits.The process 

advantage of a natural gas/oxygen 

burner is shown in figure 7. The physical 

aspects will be discussed below in 

the paragraphs dealing with convection 

and radiation. The reference temperatures 

in figure 2, which were measured 

as part of the experiment, were reached 

with natural gas/oxygen heating, thus 

fulfilling the requirement for the comparison: 

measuring point M1, near the 

inside surface, approx. 820 °C and measuring 

point M3, in the middle of the 

refractory lining, approx. 640 - 660 °C. 

Ladle heating by means of the oxyfuel 

burner differs only marginally from a ladle 

in the production process heated by 

molten metal. Particularly Figures 9 and 

3 show that the inside surface zone retains 

a similar temperature level. 

Temperature difference between 

the inside surface of 

the refractory lining and the 

subsurface measuring point 

M1 (25 mm) 

An important aspect to be considered is 

the energy content of the temperature 

difference. As shown in figure 9, after 

4.5 h the porous burner achieved a temperature 

of 990 °C at the surface of the 

refractory lining. Compared to the temperature 

achieved by the oxyfuel burner, 

there is a different of more than 560 K. 

The energy content in the surface zone of 

the refractory lining is the same as that of 

a ladle at operating temperature. 

Accordingly, whenever the ladle is 

heated by a porous burner, the refractory 

lining needs additional energy input 

of 185 K to make up for the difference 

(M1, 647/832 °C) (figures 5 and 6). This 

additional energy has to come from the 

melting process. Consequently, higher 

melt temperatures would be necessary. 


1520 

1500 

1480 

1460 

1440 

1420 

1400 


1350 

1150 

950 

750 

500 

350 

150 

1530 1531 

Melting temperature 

in induction furnace 

Figure 8: Iron temperatures for different heating methods. Temperature level of porous 

burner versus O 2 

burner 

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 

Temperature at different refactory lining depths in cm 

Figure 9: Comparison of the achieved temperatures at the measuring points in the inside 

lining surface zone, in the middle of the lining and in the lining close to the ladle wall. 

Comparison of heating by molten metal, natural gas/oxygen burner and porous burner 

Physical aspects and comparison 

of natural gas/air combustion 

and natural gas/oxygen 

combustion 

Flame temperature 

The flame temperature basically depends 

on the natural gas/air or natural 

gas/oxygen ratio and the burner design. 

The comparison is based on the 

use of natural gas (methane, figure 9). 

In practice, natural gas/air combustion 

only achieves flame temperatures of 

1498 

Temperature in ladle, 3 min 

 

 

1469 1469 

Temperature 

molten iron 

1406 

 

 

 

burner 

 

Porous burner 

Porous burner 

Temperature, 8 min after 

pouring of the melt 

< 1,700 to 1,800 °C, O 2 

burners temperatures 

< 2,850 °C. 

Combustion with air versus combustion 

with technical oxygen (approximate 

calculation) 

» Original fuel rate:10 m³/h of natural 

gas (CH4). 

» Combustion at 100 m³/h of air. 

» Combustion requires approx. 

20 m³/h of oxygen and approx. 80 m³ 

of nitrogen (air: 20,9 % O 2 

, 78 % N 2 

). 


Spectral radiation 

Spectral radiation density 

Wave length 

Figure 10: Planck’s radiation law 

Fuel 

 

temperatures 

 

 

Propane/Butane 

Hydrogen 

Methane (natural gas) 

 

Table 1: 

Temperature Control. 

Smart. Reliable. 

» Combustion products: H 2 

O and CO 2 

. 

» Lost energy (N 2 

): If a temperature of 

approx. 1,100 °C is measured in the 

waste gas flow of the ladle, 33 % of the 

required energy provided by natural 

gas is needed to heat up the nitrogen. 

Combustion with O 2 

In case of combustion with technical 

oxygen no burden in the form of nitrogen 

needs to be heated. Consequently, 

only 6.6 m 3 /h of natural gas are needed. 

The higher flame temperature in 

case of combustion with pure oxygen 

(2,860 °C according to ) provides 

a further energetic benefit, namely the 

radiation effect (Figure 10). Versus combustion 

with air, this effect reduces the 

necessary energy input by another approx. 

15 % . Compared to combustion 

with air, the use of oxygen reduces the 

consumption of natural gas to approx. 

5.1 m 3 /h for virtually the same combustion 

result. This equals a reduction by 

approx. 50 %. Natural gas/oxygen combustion 

achieves adiabatic temperatures 

of more than 2,860 °C. All state-of-theart 

burner equipment provides the possibility 

of accurately adjusting the mixing 

ratio (stoichiometry). Therefore, the 

differences in efficiency depend exclusively 

on the burner design. 

Heat transfer by radiation 

Figure 11 illustrates the heat transfer 

by radiation. 

» Radiation in case of porous burner 

use: Gas temperature 1,300 K, 

Proven quality 

& Swiss precision 

Reliable Swiss quality, in use successfully 

for 50 years. The temperature 

control units from REGLOPLAS are 

convincing because of their precision, 

long service life and compatibility. 

Casting Plant & Technology 2 / 2017 17 

www.regloplas.com

MELTING SHOP 

wave length 2 μm, spectral radiance 

105 W/ (m² μm). 

» Radiation in case of natural gas/oxygen 

combustion: Gas temperature 

3,100 K, wave length 0.77 μm, spectral 

radiance 106 W/ (m² μm). As a result 

of the higher temperatures, the 

wave lengths are shorter. This produces 

tenfold higher heat transfer rates. 

Heat transfer by convection 

No physical strategy for ladle heating 

can be derived from the calculation 

of the heat transfer from a gas mixture 

of 1,000 °C into a refractory wall 

of 1,300 °C. Actually, the wall surface 

transfers heat into the combustion gas. 

The consequence is that heat is extracted 

from the refractory wall (surface), 

leading to a drop in the wall temperature 

(figure 11), but not to the heating 

of the ladle. 

Fluid temperature 

Surface 

temperature 

Fluid 1 

Thermal interface 

Solid wall 

Figure 11: Principle of heat transfer by convection 

Thermal interface 

Fluid 2 

Surface 

temperature 

Fluid temperature 

Negative convection 

Particularly during this phase the surface 

temperature has to be kept at a 

high level in order for the ladle to retain 

its operating temperatures for the 

next melt without suffering any major 

temperature changes. 

Comparison: Holding at temperature 

– Heating up and 

holding an in-process ladle at 

operating temperature 

Porous burner 

The burner design as well as the used 

materials and their thermal properties 

put constraints on the temperature control 

between the inside surface of the ladle 

and the burner sleeve of the porous 

burner system. Consequently, the temperature 

depends directly on the materials 

used in the porous burner design. 

A thermocouple installed in the burner 

limits the heating process to a maximum 

temperature of approx. 1,000 °C. 

It can be assumed that the gas temperature 

between the surface of the burner 

sleeve and the surface of the refractory 

lining in the ladle is not significantly 

higher. The natural cooling curve in 

Figure 12 represents cooling with the ladle 

covered and without any additional 

energy input. Immediately covering the 

ladle is therefore more efficient than using 

a porous burner. 


800 

700 

600 

500 

400 

M3 porous burner 

 

 

300 

10:04:48 10:19:12 10:33:36 10:48:00 11:02:24 11:16:48 11:31:12 11:45:36 12:00:00 

Figure 12: Comparison of the natural cooling behaviour of a ladle at operating temperature 

in the covered state versus use of porous burner heating for 1 h with 12.5 m 

 

Burner use 

Despite the energy input by the porous 

burner, the ladle temperature fell 

markedly. 

 

 

the ladle is covered 

 

burner use 

natural gas 

Time in min 

 

 

Comparison: Holding at temperature 

(M1 (2.5 cm)) 

The ladle was transferred to the respective 

burner stand right after the 

melt had been poured. The intention 

was to demonstrate that it would be 

possible to hold the ladle at a maximum 

temperature level. Figure 13 

shows that the above explained physical 

effects lead to the situation that in 

case of porous burner use the surface 

(M1) cools down, negating the heating 

effect of the hot refractory surface 

zone. From this it can be concluded 

that the porous burner should only be 

used after temperatures < 500 °C have 

been reached (M3). This would mean 

a waiting time of more than 3 h, without 

any actual effect on the intended 



Figure 13: Comparison of the temperature holding performance of a natural gas/oxygen 

burner using 4 m of O 2 

versus a porous burner using 

of natural gas and air directly after pouring; at M1 

Savings euros/year 

920 

840 

760 

680 

600 

0 10 

20 30 40 50 

30 000 

25 000 

20 000 

15 000 

10 000 

5000 

 

repairs 

 

Porous burner 

Time in min 

 

service life 

Savings potential 

 

Savings on electricity 

Figure 14: Savings potential provided by a natural gas/oxygen burner based on approx. 

25,000 t of molten metal per year 

the use of conventional porous burners. 

The shortfall in energy incurred 

when using porous burners would 

either have to be compensated by a 

higher tapping temperature or higher 

temperature losses would have to be 

tolerated when pouring the first melt 

(difference of up to 60 K in case of the 

investigated ladle). In the overall comparison, 

the cost-benefit ratio is clearly 

in favour of the natural/gas oxygen 

burner. 

The advantages: 

» high flexibility, operating temperature 

after 60 to 90 min 

» short non-productive times 

» longer service times 

» improved resistance to temperature 

changes 

» cleaner ladles 

» lower tapping temperature of induction 

furnace 

» less lining repair 

Cost advantage of the natural 

gas/oxygen burner 

Especially the use of natural gas/oxygen 

burners for heating the ladle to operating 

temperature provides obvious 

cost saving potential, optimizing the 

overall “thermal costs” of the process 

( ). The reduction in necessary 

energy costs associated with the melting 

process is clearly assessable. Moreover, 

the problem of thermal fatigue is 

alleviated, guaranteeing extended service 

lives in conjunction with the effect 

of cleaner ladles. The statement 

that the ladles are “cleaner” is backed 

by the fact that material caking from 

the pouring process melts off at high 

temperatures and deposits at the ladle 

bottom. 

heating of the ladle to operating temperature. 

Natural gas/oxygen burner 

Immediate use of a natural gas/oxygen 

burner requires extra energy and may 

lead to ladle overheating. Therefore, it 

is indispensible to control the burner 

operation by means of thermocouples. 

Operating times can be programmed 

according to the size of the ladle. The 

effect of ladle covering on the operating 

temperature and the cooling behaviour 

is shown in figure 4. After approx. 

60 min, a temperature of 605 °C 

(at M 3) is reached, which is almost the 

same as in the beginning. 

Comparison 

By means of natural gas/oxygen burners 

it was possible to achieve operating 

temperature states very similar to 

those in an in-process ladle, at energy 

costs not exceeding those involved in 

Bottom line 

In an iron foundry, the applicability 

of porous burners is limited. However, 

their use is justified in case of low 

pouring temperatures, great wall thicknesses 

and for ladle drying. Compared 

to this, the use of natural gas/oxygen 

burners for ladle heating achieves a 

physically optimal operating result at 

lower energy costs. 

www.linde-gas.de 

www.gienanth.com


Pouring line during the pouring process of pouring units 1 and 2 (Photos & Graphics: M.Busch) 

Steffen Geisweid and Dennis Wolzenburg, Heinrich Wagner Sinto, Bad Laasphe 

Commissioning of Foundry 3plus 

at M. Busch in Wehrstapel 

The company M. Busch GmbH & Co. KG located in Bestwig, Germany, has made one of the 

largest investments in their company history: At its site in Wehrstapel the nearly 200 years old 

company positions itselves soundly for the future with the new Seiatsu molding plant using the 

modern compaction process Seiatsu.plus 


Figure 1: View of the two steps of the molding plant 

Figure 2: Left: cope molding machine; right: drag molding machine 

After 24 years of operation of the existing 

Seiatsu molding plant of Foundry 

3, the new molding plant type 

EFA-SD Seiatsu.plus including an additional 

pouring unit type P-30-M 

has now been started up successfully. 

Both machineries were delivered 

and installed by the local “world market 

leader” Heinrich Wagner Sinto 

Maschinenfabrik GmbH (HWS) who 

are domiciled in Bad Laasphe in South 

Westphalia, Germany. 

The task presented to the suppliers 

was a modernization and increase of 

output of the foundry at the same time. 

For the scope of the molding plant, the 

existing pattern plates should be useable 

in the new molding plant without 

any adaption, the length and the 

width of the molding boxes remained 

unchanged. 

During the preliminary planning, 

the logistics and material flows of the 

old foundry were reassessed by Busch. 

On this basis, the areas for molding, 

core setting, pouring and shake-out 

were defined. The use of available 

building surfaces permitted installation 

in 2 steps so that production was 

not hindered during the first phase 

of installation. The green sections in 

the drawing (Figure 1) identify step 1, 

the red sections show the subsequent 

step 2. The flow of the molding boxes 

is represented in yellow/orange. 

Due to the required output of molds, 

it was no longer possible to work with 

one single molding machine only. As 

the existing building structures had to 

be maintained, it was not feasible to 

use a so-called twin-type molding machine. 

So HWS developed a concept 

with two single molding machines 

that mold the drag and the cope each. 

Both molding machines are operating 

with the proven Seiatsu molding 

process using a multi-ram press for 

the hydraulic secondary compaction. 

For another increase of precision and 

dimensional accuracy of the molds, 

the molding machine for the copes is 

equipped with the pattern-side compaction 

process Seiatsu.plus of the latest 

generation. In this respect, it must 

be noted that the compaction from 

pattern side has been realized successfully 

in more than 20 molding plants 

since 2004. By using this process, up 

to 30 % higher values of edge compaction 

can be achieved (depending on 

the complexity of the component geometry) 

(Figures 2 and 3). 

The direction of travel is opposite to 

the previous plant because of the redevelopment 

of the material flows, the 

core setting line could be placed into the 

same area as before. Thus, the optimal 



Figure 3: Drag with molded cods for brake drums 

Figure 4: View onto the drag/core setting line; left above is the cope line 

connection to the core-making shop remains 

as it is (Figure 4). 

The pouring line was relocated to the 

opposite side of the foundry which results 

in a considerably shorter transportation 

distance for the supply of liquid 

iron. As a result of the required mold 

output, there are two fully automatic 

HWS pouring units type “P-30-M” (M 

= accompanying changing unit of ladles) 

at the pouring line. One of them 

had been installed shortly before at the 

previous pouring line, the second new 

pouring unit is identical in design. The 

key function of the pouring units is the 

software-monitored fill quantity of the 

ladle and data communication. Thus, 

the pouring units can “decide autonomously” 

which unit pours which mold 

so that the logistics of the supply of liquid 

metal proceed in an optimal way. 

For cooling the poured molds, Busch 

still relies on the proven concept of the 

mold cod cooling. After a defined cooling 

phase inside the molding box, two 

mold cods each are transferred into a 

mold jacket. The 4-floor cooling structure 

that had already been installed at 

the former molding plant, was extended 

by using additional steel structure in 

order to reach the required total cooling 

time. The lifting and lowering devices 

at the front faces have completely 

been redesigned according to the current 

state of the art. Shake-out of the 

jackets is done by means of a cod lifter 

that lowers the cod into the cellar and 

pushes it off onto a new casting cooler. 

Monitored and controlled is the 

molding plant by the latest version 

of the production monitoring system 

ALS 2010 Advanced that has been developed 

by HWS themselves. This system 

provides the administration of 

process and pattern parameters, the visualization 

of cooling times and plant 

states as well as the data communication 

with the peripherals. 

The GLS 2010 (monitoring system for 

pouring units, Figure 5) has been developed 

particularly for the administration 

and processing of data of pouring 

machines. It assists the plant personnel 

by displaying all important process data 

such as pouring weight, pouring time 

and pouring temperature as well as by 

the representation of molding box information 

of the molds that are located 

in the pouring area. 

Further important functions like a 

comfortable administration of pouring 

parameters, an evaluation of malfunction 

periods and cycle times and a detailed 

logging of quantities are also part 

of the standard package of this management 

system. The GLS uses, of course, 

the same operating interface as the ALS. 

For fully automatic pouring, a repeat 

accuracy of 100 % of the pouring 

parameters must be ensured at the 

pouring machine in case of a pattern 

change. By means of an optional data 

communication to the control system 

of the molding plant, the transmitted 

pattern number enables the automatic 

loading of a pattern-specific pouring 

program. Using these regulation 

and control parameters, the fully automatic 

pouring is started. 

The whole pouring process can be 

observed by an installed camera. For a 


Figure 5: Monitor view of the HWS pouring unit monitoring system GLS 2010 

Figure 6: Monitor view Vision Control System (VCS) 

later analysis of the process, the pouring 

cycles are available in an archive. 

Integration to other systems is ensured 

by defined interfaces, such as MRP interface, 

export database or Excel or XML interface. 

A tool for permanent quality assurance 

is the Vision Control System 

(VCS) that has also been developed by 

HWS (Figure 6). This system serves for 

the camera-based automatic check of 

green sand molds for molding defects. 

It is suitable to check the produced 

molds and thus for quality assurance 

at the same time. The examination is 

based on a comparison of the molds 

with reference data and reference parameters 

that are defined and filed in 

a pattern-specific way. In connection 

with other data collecting and data 

evaluation systems, Foundry 4.0 arrives 

latest by now. 

The first step had been installed in 

spring 2016 and comprized the two 

single molding machines, the punchout 

unit, the central hydraulic station 

and other peripherals. In order to be 

prepared best for the critical second 

step, a preliminary commissioning of 

the first step had been realized, i.e. the 

central hydraulic station as well as all 

drives themselves have been tested in 

operating mode, even the molding cycle 

of the molding machines had been 

performed. 

During the company holidays in 

summer 2016, the second step was installed. 

Commissioning and acceptance 

of the molding plant were carried 

out on schedule and with success. 

Both the existing (and relocated) and 

the new second pouring unit have 

started their work and are pouring now 

the liquid metal fully automatically. 

The new Foundry 3plus at Busch is 

producing now with one of the most 

modern molding plants that have 

ever been delivered by HWS. Equipped 

with the latest software solutions and 

the compaction process Seiatsu.plus, 

Busch are now well prepared for the 

requirements of the future. 

www.wagner-sinto.de 

www.m-busch.de 


SIMULATION 

Thomas Tosse, Munich 

Quicker solution concepts 

with ANSYS SpaceClaim 

Eisenwerk Erla GmbH in Schwarzenberg, Germany, is one of the longest established companies 

and most important employers in the entire Ore Mountains. The specialist for castings of turbocharger 

and exhaust manifold components employs 400 specialized employees and achieved 

sales of 110 million euros in 2012/13. The Development Department of the automotive supplier 

uses all leading CAD systems - but only one during the offer phase: ANSYS SpaceClaim 

Collaboration during product 

development 

Development activities should lead to 

maximum customer satisfaction. For 

this purpose, employees exploit the latest 

versions of all common automotive 

3-D CAD systems, e.g. CATIA, Pro/Engineer 

and Solid Edge. In addition, simulation 

software is used for solidification 

and mold-filling processes in order to 

turn customer definitions into a foundry-implementable 

product as quickly 

as possible, as well as find savings potentials 

and optimization approaches. 

 

iron hammer on the River Erl (Photos: ANSYS Germany GmbH) 

After an eventful 600-year history, Eisenwerk 

Erla is now one of Germany’s most 

modern and efficient jobbing foundries. 

In its lavishly renovated works, highly 

specialized personnel develop, manufacture 

and process demanding products in 

all modern casting materials in compliance 

with all environmental standards. 

The range extends from mass-produced 

automotive castings with complicated 

and core-intensive designs in high-alloyed 

materials to components for machine 

construction (Figure 1). The works 

has a total annual capacity of more than 

23,000 tonnes for producing castings 

weighing from 0.1 kg to 40 kg for more 

than 200 customers worldwide. Eisenwerk 

Erla advises its customers on the use 

of numerous materials, from spheroidal 

or lamellar graphite cast iron, through 

SiMo and Ni-Resist, to stainless steel. The 

company’s competences also include the 

development of materials for special cases. 

It maintains close relationships with 

universities, and exploits modern test 

bench technology in the works. 

Making viable offers quickly 

This begins with the comprehensive examination 

of incoming customer enquiries, 

as well as analysis of the specifications 

on the basis of the drawings and 

appropriate data sets provided, in order 

to create an optimum production feasibility 

assessment as quickly as possible. 

Eisenwerk Erla receives new enquiries 

every day. An item can take between 

half-an-hour and two weeks to process, 

depending on its complexity. During 

this phase, the company has been using 

two licenses a day from 3-D direct modeler 

ANSYS SpaceClaim since 2012. The 

design team got to know SpaceClaim 

at Euromold 2011 and then evaluated 

a test version. They were immediately 

impressed by the rapid potentials for 

directly manipulating geometries. No 

information is available on the history 

and parametric design of the original 

systems because interested parties only 

provide neutral STEP files of the desired 

parts with their enquiries ( ). 

Nevertheless, the component must be 

comprehensively analyzed and requires 

numerous modifications before an economically 

and technically optimum offer 

can be made. 


models using ANSYS SpaceClaim opens 

 

 

Direct manipulation of geometries 

on STEP models 

Without considering the development 

history of the component, the direct 

modeler permits rapid changes to the 

filleting of the components, addition of 

demolding inclines, or enlargement of 

individual model areas. For cost reasons, 

the castings should require as few cores 

as possible for production – so the inner 

contours and undercuts must also be reworked. 

Particular geometries can easily 

be pulled out with ANSYS SpaceClaim 

and then further processed for core production. 

There are simple commands 

and rapid methods for arranging several 

parts in clusters. Missing connectors can 

also be rapidly reconstructed. “We can 

carry out all manipulations of the STEP 

files, from necessary foundry-related fillets 

to removal of interfering contours, 

quicker and easier with SpaceClaim than 

with other CAD systems,” says one of the 

responsible designers. Using SpaceClaim 

ANSYS SpaceClaim 

during this phase shortens Eisenwerk Erla’s 

processing time by about 10 %. 

Holistic production concept 

For casting simulation, SpaceClaim provides 

data in STL format so that it can be 

analyzed according to the finite element 

method in WinCast Experto (from RWP 

GmbH in Roetgen). The data for each 

optimization loop must be saved so that 

one can understand modifications and, 

if necessary, change them back again. 

“It is helpful here if the models can be 

changed with backward steps or parameters,” 

say the designers. The final work 

step is checking the separation of components 

from the cluster. It is often necessary 

to construct special equipment so 

that the individual parts can be safety 

and accurately separated again after casting 

– another cost factor in the technical 

solution. Here, too, SpaceClaim scores 

with rapid geometry creation for all aspects 

of existing components. 

If one has ever seen a rocket take off, flown in an airplane or driven a car, 

worked with a computer or mobile device, crossed a bridge, or put on wearable 

technology, the chances are good that one has used a product for 

which software from ANSYS played a critical role in its creation. ANSYS is 

one of the world’s leading suppliers of technical simulation solutions. The 

company helps the most innovative companies in the world to implement 

radically better products for their customers. Insofar that ANSYS offers the 

best and widest range of technical simulation software, the company helps 

customers solve the most complex of design challenges and design products 

that go to the limits of human imagination. 

Finally, enquiries are answered with 

a holistic solution concept in which all 

technical and economic issues are clarified 

and assured. Numerous models 

and drawings from ANSYS SpaceClaim 

contribute to this – the original modelling 

is not supplied in the offer phase. 

Creation of drawings too in 

future 

In a close network with pattern and 

tool construction partners, the Development 

Department determines right 

from the start the best symbiosis between 

the required design, accuracies 

and practical implementation in production. 

For this purpose, even more 

meaningful drawings should in future 

be created: Eisenwerk Erla wants to particularly 

emphasize in the drawings certain 

controlling dimensions that may 

not be changed. For this purpose, there 

will soon be another training course at 

LINO GmbH in Hagen, the authorized 

sales partner of ANSYS SpaceClaim. Except 

for the basic training in 2012, and 

a course on “Expanded modelling techniques”, 

its services have hardly been 

exploited: “ANSYS SpaceClaim really is 

a very good program,” says the Design 

Manager. “When direct modelling is 

involved, we cannot think of any comparable 

system with which very complex 

external models can be so quickly 

and easily processed with several measurements 

and mold inclines.” 

www.spaceclaim.com/de 


SIMULATION 

Lu Baosheng, Changchun, China 

Manufacturability of a cylinder 

block sand core 

Quality sand cores are a natural requirement for most high integrity castings. Just as for the castings, 

the challenges are related to technical, environmental and cost aspects. One key factor for a 

robust core production is manufacturability: the reliability of production considering the given facility 

conditions. For FAW Foundry, core process simulation using MAGMA C+M is an important 

tool to establish a robust state-of-the art production of lightweight automotive cylinder blocks 

Sand core production is as complex 

and demanding as the manufacture of 

metal castings. A robust and high quality 

production means efficient development, 

reduced energy consumption 

and waste, and foremost a guaranteed 

consistent quality. A typical example 

for these diverse targets is a core for an 

automotive cylinder block being produced 

for a renowned and internationally 

active automobile company. 

Through the consequent and early use of MAGMA C+M The FAW engineers have 

saved a considerable amount of resources (Graphics: MAGMA) 

Simulation at the initial 

design of cores 

When engineering a new product, the 

FAW team, Changchun, China, uses 

simulation to develop and verify their 

shooting and curing process as early as 

possible to ensure an effective development 

process. The complex interaction 

of sand and gas flow during core box filling 

and binder curing can be visualized 

and assessed at early stages of the design 

and without the need for real core boxes 

and experiments. FAW operates several 

types of core shooting machines, 

with different types of shoot heads, core 

boxes and cores. To effectively plan the 

work flow in their facility, knowledge 

regarding the machine configuration 

and shooting and gassing parameters 

suited to produce each core is essential. 

The key point was: Could FAW 

manu facture the cylinder block core 

on different machines, possibly with 

different core boxes and core designs? 

When challenged with this question, 

the FAW engineers had already 

successfully developed Design 

A, combining their experience with 


Figure 1: Sand core of design A - result of the core shooting simulation with MAGMA C+M (left), produced cores (right) 

Figure 2: Simulative determination of design changes with MAGMA C + M at machine change: (left) 3-D-CAD model, design A, 

(right) 3-D MAGMA model, design B 

virtual experimentation in MAGMA 

C+M by MAGMA Gießereitechnologie 

GmbH, Aachen, Germany. The design 

featured a horizontally split core 

box, including optimized placement 

and size of shoot nozzles and vents. 

The results of the real core production 

and the predictions of the simulation 

matched well (Figure 1), and cores 

were being produced successfully. 

Testing of core production on 

other machine types 

However, when the core shooting machines 

used were considered for production 

of another core, the suitability 

of a different machine type needed 

to be evaluated quickly and reliably. To 

get the job done, the FAW engineers 

again relied on MAGMA C+M. 

While the new and old designs shared 

the same general concept, the possibilities 

to place shoot nozzles and vents 

were different (Figure 2). This mainly 

concerned two nozzles on the core’s 

side arms, which could no longer be 

used. Regardless, the cores had to be 

produced according to the same quality 

specifications. Early prototyping 

shop floor tests were impossible, as production 

was being carried out “just in 

time”. 

To get a reliable answer, the engineers 

created a new design, ran the 

MAGMA C+M simulation and checked 

the results. Within just a few hours, 

their virtual experiment produced the 

results needed to get them answers to 

their questions. 

Simulative assessment of the 

 

First, the core box filling was evaluated 

using the MAGMA C+M results 

‘Sand Density’ and ‘Sand Trace’. The 


SIMULATION 

former is a criterion for the local density 

of the sand and the latter shows 

the shoot nozzle from which the sand 

originates. Considering these results, 

problematic areas where different sand 

fronts meet can easily be identified. Secondly, 

the binder curing was assessed. 

MAGMA C+M determines the amount 

of adsorbed amine in the core, indicating 

core sections not cured sufficiently. 

This result can also be used to identify 

the smallest possible amount of amine 

needed to produce sound cores, cutting 

down consumable costs and avoiding 

production waste. 

Simulative analysis of the 

curing process 

As it turned out, the design modifications 

resulted in critical problems. For 

the filling, the results showed incompletely 

filled core sections in the middle 

and the lower parts of the arms. 

Severe problems were also identified 

Figure 3: 

Figure 4:sign 

B (left), not completely hardened area in the lower core half, design B (right) 


FAW Foundry Co., Ltd. 

...is a wholly-owned subsidiary 

of the FAW Group, is a stateowned 

enterprise, and is the 

largest production base for automotive 

castings in China. FAW 

Foundry was founded in 1953 

parallel to the establishment of 

the FAW Group. It consists of 7 

branch companies, 1 subsidiary 

and 2 joint stock companies. 

FAW Foundry produces iron, 

aluminum, magnesium and other 

nonferrous parts covering all 

important automotive castings. 

With its own R&D Department – 

Technical Center, FAW Foundry 

has capacity for casting development, 

design, scientific research 

and CAE application in product 

design and manufacturing. 

during curing, especially in sections 

in the lower core half, which was insufficiently 

cured. Further simulations 

considering different core shooting 

parameters like blowing pressure and 

blowing time were quickly carried out, 

but these measures could not resolve 

the issues. 

Based on the simulation results, 

the engineers could not recommend 

switching the core shooting 

machines. When discussing how to 

proceed, the simulation results were 

essential in communicating the problems 

to be expected. In the end, the 

engineers’ advice was followed and a 

switching of the machines avoided. 

Later, a trial series with the modified 

design was carried out within a research 

project. Once more, these trials 

showed a good match between the results 

of the software and the cores produced 

on the shop floor. 

In the end, FAW saved significant resources 

with minimal effort by consequently 

using MAGMA C+M as early 

as possible in engineering its core production 

process. 

www.magmasoft.com 

www.faw-foundry.com.cn

Christenguss AG is already producing complex sand molds in 3-D printing (Photos: Christenguss AG) 

Mirela Dizdarevic, ExOne GmbH, Gersthofen 

On the way to “Casting 4.0” 

Industry 4.0, Foundry 4.0, Guss 4.0 – nowadays developments are occurring so fast that instead 

of new concepts, only version designations are being assigned. With its vision of Guss 4.0, 

Christenguss AG of Bergdietikon in Switzerland is also blazing the trail into a digital future. 

The real and the virtual world are increasingly 

growing together. Industry 

4.0 – the fusion of modern information 

and communications technology with 

production – has become an essential 

development and is currently a much 

discussed topic. There are already a 

few companies in the foundry industry 

implementing innovative solutions 

on the way towards Foundry 4.0. From 

the outset, Christenguss AG in Switzerland 

has been committed to progress. 

The constant pursuit of modernization 

and optimization mean that Christenguss 

is already presenting itself as a top 

modern foundry that manufactures 

complex sand casting molds in a 3-D 

printing process. It is in this way that 

the Bavarian company ExOne from 

Gersthofen near Augsburg provides a 

valuable service with an S-Max production 

printer. This allows the foundry 

the production of sand molds of the 

highest quality and great individuality, 

from batch sizes upwards. The innovative 

3-D process also takes sustainability 

into account, as ExOne Sales Manager 

Holger Barth explains: “Thanks to 

maximum process reliability and high 

product quality, the rejects are reduced 

to a minimum, and only the parts that 

are effectively needed are produced. 

This saves resources, because the energy 

required for the remelting of defective 

components is reduced.” 

Quality, individuality and 

process safety 

These points also convince Florian 

Christen, CEO of the traditional family 

business in its fourth generation and 

a man with a strong drive for innovation. 

He sees his company as an innovation 

and technology leader in the 

field and would like to make it the most 

advanced in the industry. In his own 

words, he even plans to “fundamentally 

change the entire foundry industry 

with innovative Ideas.” Christen 

wants to consciously use the opportunities 

offered through digitization 

in the foundry – both for itself and for 

its customers. His vision is called Guss 

4.0 (Guss is a play on words in German, 

meaning “cast” or “casting”). If in the 

future things go according to his wishes 

the production of each individual 

casting will be able to be automatically 

controlled and regulated. The desire 

to increase efficiency and to optimize 

product quality forms the background 

of his plans. Besides Guss 4.0, which 

is the vision of a fully automated cast- 


Figure 1: For complex internal contours, the contours of the casting are measured 

by means of a CT scan 

ing process, Christenguss is putting its 

faith in using the latest technology in 

the digital detection of raw parts. This 

is a costly undertaking, especially due 

to the fact that in older models, it is often 

the case that no drawings or original 

data are available (anymore) to 

form the basis of the casting’s digitalization. 

To also avoid storage, insurance 

and inspection costs and to prevent 

tool loss, the tool data can be digitized 

and archived as a precaution. 

In each of these cases, the solution 

is “reverse engineering”, i.e. detailed 

reverse engineering. In conjunction 

with 3-D printing, this is not only an 

efficient method for simulating parts 

that are no longer available, it is often 

the only way to reconstruct certain 

components quickly and at relatively 

low cost. Christenguss uses the ExOne 

S-Max for 3-D printing. 

 

 

Since the digital capture of castings using 

laser scanning are pushed to their 

limits especially when it comes to complex 

inner contours (Figure 1), in this 

case Christenguss also has the option to 

detect with a CT scan. In this process, 

the raw part is x-rayed three-dimensionally 

so that even the most complex inner 

contours are mapped. A dataset is then 

generated in the STL format from the CT 

scan. This dataset or the corresponding 

same point-clouds are read in the course 

of reverse engineering and the data is 

aligned to the coordinate system. After 

performing data analysis, non-cast-relevant 

parts are removed and the polygons 

are optimized. Using SolidWorks design 

software, the part is then constructed 

digitally and the casting systems and 

the mold are drawn ( ). Then, 

the mold is printed at Christenguss on 

the ExOne S-Max and cast on site. Lastly, 

the finished cast blank finally undergoes 

a visual inspection. The timeline 

for the entire process from the CT scan 

to the finished blank only amounts to 

about three to four weeks. Thus, the respective 

digital three-dimensional data 

can be obtained very quickly from any 

existing object of any size or shape without 

the original data. 

 

 

“Obsolete parts can thus be quickly 

reproduced in reverse engineering 

by means of the digital process,” confirms 

Holger Barth of ExOne. “For example, 

if the original manufacturer is 

no longer in business or no longer offering 

the part.” He also makes the point 

that Christenguss has become a real 

specialist in the field of tool-less mold 

production – particularly by using the 

S-Max-printer: “It produces complex 

sand cores and molds directly from CAD 

data, eliminating the need for physical 

models. In this way, Christenguss even 

produces complex inner contours with 

a printed sand core from the S-Max.” 

Changes and optimizations in the CAD 

data can be immediately implemented 

in the product design and the casting 

can therefore start within a short time 

and without additional tools. There is 

also a great freedom of design when 

printing detailed, high-precision cores 

and complex geometries. 

In conclusion, Florian Christen again 

refers to time and cost savings: “Thanks 

to the 3-D-printing of the molds, positioning 

systems can also be integrated 

directly into the sprue for a casting. 

As a result, this means specific set-ups 

for machining and plastering of parts 

are only necessary to a very limited extent.” 

This is another benefit for the 

foundry and thus also for their customers 

– and a wonderful prospect for Florian 

Christen’s vision of Guss 4.0. 

The casting systems and the casting mold are generated in the software 

 

www.christenguss.ch 


WORK SAFETY 

Robert Piterek, German Foundry Association, Düsseldorf 

On course for 

a new safety culture 

Georg Fischer Automotive initiated its Zero-Risk Campaign in 2015 with a series of posters, a 

training video and a variety of events. The aim is to considerably increase safety at work at production 

sites in Europe, Asia and America. The campaign, which will last for several more years, 

 

 

“Safety at work is not a sexy topic.” 

Tina Köhler has no illusions and 

adds, “When colleagues talk to an employee 

about wearing protective goggles 

his request will most probably receive 

a grumpy response.” The head 

of communications at Georg Fischer 

(GF) wants the Zero-Risk Campaign to 

change this attitude to safety at work at 

all the Group’s works and thus ensure 

that all workers are healthy when they 

go home in the evening. The Manager 

of Marketing & Communication has 

set the bar high: safety rules should become 

second nature for all Group employees 

so that one day they will thank 

their colleagues for such instructions. 

Tina Köhler (GF Automotive’s Head of Communication), Robert Piterek (BDG-Editor) 

and Frank Bettinger (Manager of Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety at 

GF Singen) during a tour of the works at the Georg Fischer foundry in Singen (left to 

right, Photos: Klaus Bolz). 

Accidents happen because 

risks are taken 

Georg Fischer decided to call it the 

Zero-Risk Campaign because Köhler 

wants this campaign to fight the causes 

of accidents. “Accidents happen because 

risks are taken,” she explains. And “Zero-Risk” 

should gain worldwide recognition 

and thus be standardized at all the 

Group’s works. Köhler’s fervent commitment 

to greater awareness of risk comes 

from an accident at the Georg Fischer 

works in the Westgerman city of Mettmann 

that focused her attention on 

health and safety at work. Since then she 

has been using marketing and communication 

methods to advocate maximum 

safety at her employer’s production sites. 

With support from the Head of GF 

Automotive, Josef Edbauer, the campaign 

got underway at all the company’s 

works in Germany, Austria and 


The almost-silent electric fork-lift trucks 

are equipped with a blue light in order 

to prevent accidents caused by collisions 

with them. 

sponsible for environmental protection 

and occupational safety at the 

Singen works, early on started aiming 

to reduce accident rates to zero. 

The Singen works of Georg Fischer 

Automotive is a high-tech factory 

where manual work on its five production 

lines has been reduced to a minimum 

over the course of time. As in 

many other modern foundries, robots 

are components of foundry equipment 

that are now taken for granted, as are 

ergonomic workplaces, e.g. for core 

insertion and the machining of castings. 

But this cannot completely rule 

out the risk of an accident for the workers, 

even if accident rates have fallen 

considerably. The Zero-Risk Campaign 

was therefore right on cue for Bettinger, 

who has been working at the automotive 

suppliers for more than 25 

years: “Here in Singen we had already 

introduced some effective measures 

before the campaign started. The introduction 

of a safety culture was the 

next important step for us.” 

Smelter in full gear at an induction furnace in the works. The personal protective equipment 

used by GF’s smelters has no back because no danger is posed from this direction. 

“We want to protect workers whilst burdening them as little as possible,” says Frank 

Bettinger. 

China in 2015. This affected more than 

5,000 employees, who had achieved 

production of 600,000 tonnes of iron 

and light metal castings in 2015 with 

sales worth 1.23 billion euros. The focus 

was initially on the three most frequent 

types of accidents – involving 

eye injuries, serious cuts, or tripping 

up. Whereby the benchmark for the 

correct treatment of health and safety 

at work was the Georg Fischer Singen 

iron foundry near Lake Constance, 

which employs about 1,100 personnel 

and had already been making great 

efforts to reduce the number of accidents 

since 2010. Frank Bettinger, re- 

The illusion of invulnerability 

It is in the nature of accident prevention 

measures that they eventually 

reach their limits: “We do a lot for our 

employees, but cannot wrap them in 

cotton wool or keep them in a bubble 

– there is no 100 % safe work,” admits 

Bettinger. So there is no way around 

having a safety culture in order to 

minimize residual risks. The aim must 

be to place safety at work in the foreground 

so that employees are always 

aware of potential risks. But one cannot 

simply decree a safety culture – because 

there are three human behavioral 

traits against it: “Firstly, there is 

the illusion of invulnerability that we 

all know from driving,” explains Tina 

Köhler. “Most of us are convinced that 

we will not have a car accident – it only 

happens to others. Recognizing this 

illusion is important in order to increase 

awareness for safety at work,” 

she stresses. Then there is the risk of 

too much or too little routine during 

the work. Both are considered frequent 

causes of accidents. Finally, there is our 

treatment of rules which, for various 

reasons (such as time pressures), are 

not observed. Breaches of the rules rapidly 

become dangerous for one’s own 

health and that of others. 

The communication experts at 

Georg Fischer avoid the use of shocking 

pictures in order to make the series 

of campaign posters as effective as possible. 

The reason: pictures of bloody 

helmets or amputated limbs achieve 

the opposite to what is intended. Experts 

confirm that this merely results 


WORK SAFETY 

in a suppression of the risks. The posters 

therefore have an almost aesthetic 

design, a blue eye patch, a pink crack 

in a hand, or yellow stairs deviding a 

male’s leg, bearing the slogan “Everything 

is fine before the accident. Everything 

is different afterwards.” The focus 

is on the content! 

Machining castings at GF Singen. Fettlers need particularly good protection while 

working 

Campaign prevents every 

 

The three topics were then worked on 

at the various sites last year. First came 

the warning against eye injuries, accompanied 

by appropriate posters 

and events, as well as the so-called 

“walk-in eye” that made a stopover 

in Singen for three days. This allowed 

the personnel to admire a large walkin 

eye, undergo an eye test, and have 

their intraocular pressure measured. 

Whereby the highlight was that they 

could also be temporarily deprived 

of their eyesight there. Tina Köhler is 

certain that, “This gave them a totally 

different understanding of the topic.” 

GF Singen also invited the employees 

and their families to coffee 

and cake in the works. “Our ulterior 

motive for this was that the presence 

of their families at the works provided 

stimuli to avoid taking any risks,” 

Bettinger remembers. There was also 

an event organized by UVEX, which 

produces protective goggles. Beyond 

2016, further events on the topics of 

hand injuries and tripping risks will 

then follow. A glance at the accident 

figures clearly shows that the campaign 

has had an effect – they fell by 

more than a quarter (26 %) during the 

first six months of 2016, compared to 

the same period of the previous year. 

There has been a reduction of about 

20 % in the number of accidents compared 

to the business years of 2015 

and 2016. 

Shake-out station for cast iron. Cranes for handling the castings provide ergonomic support for the employees during their work 


Taking your eye off the ball 

No accidents at work 

Everything is fine before an accident.Everything changes after one. 

For you, your family and your friends. Don’t let it come to that. Protect 

yourself! Don’t take any risks. Look out for yourself – and for your 

co- workers. 

Aesthetic series of posters: potential dangers 

at works are referred to tastefully 

during the Zero-Risk Campaign 

The core-setting line of a molding plant. Protective goggles and hearing protection 

are standard safety equipment at almost all workplaces 

On-site risk assessment is 

essential 

Georg Fischer’s safety at work campaign 

has had a dramatic effect on accident 

figures throughout the Group. 

The main work for the wellbeing of the 

employees, however, will continue to be 

carried out by those responsible on-site, 

such as Frank Bettinger. When he talks 

about his everyday work it soon becomes 

clear that he is leaving no stone 

unturned in order to prevent accidents 

at the Singen works or rule out any repetition 

of them: a three-man team is constantly 

underway among the roughly 

1,100 employees at the site to provide 

information on safety at work and carefully 

investigate how any accidents occurred. 

There were 63 accidents at work 

last year, a fall of almost 60 % compared 

to 2010 (during which 148 accidents 

occurred) – a major success that 

can be traced back to Bettinger’s commitment, 

in particular. He and his team 

enter departments every day and observe 

the processes in order to estimate 

the risks. Modifications, that could be 

new sources of risk for the employees’ 

workplaces, are often undertaken on 

the extended company grounds in central 

Singen. When new workers are engaged, 

Bettinger tries as hard as possible 

to rule out potential hazards before 

they start work – from individual provision 

of personal protective equipment 

(PPE) to ergonomy at the workplace. 

For the experienced engineer, poor ergonomic 

working conditions are “Accidents 

waiting to happen, that must be 

closely monitored, particularly considering 

demographic change.” 

He faces a mammoth task by the end 

of 2017: training all 1,100 employees 

within the framework of the Zero-Risk 

Campaign. But instead of throwing his 

hands up in horror because of having 

to organize 80 - 100 courses in groups 

of 10 - 15 personnel, the Manager of 

Environmental Protection and Occupational 

Safety is looking forward to 

being able to give his specialist field 

a completely new significance in the 

company, and he is already certain 

that the campaign will change the 

company from within. 

A training video has been made for all 

the sites – in German, English and Chinese 

– in order to drive forward and stabilize 

cultural change in the company. 

The video portrays the sources of risk 

in an exaggerated form and shows what 

should not happen. Executives and 

managers are all closely integrated in 

the process. An accident occurring in, 

say, Singen must be investigated by the 

manager, documented, and preventive 

long-term or short-term measures defined. 

“And he or she must immediately 

ensure that the accident does not happen 

again during the next shift,” stresses 

Bettinger. “We thus obtain very good 

information, and will continuously improve 

safety at work,” he adds. 

Zero-Risk Campaign to be 

continued 

Talks about the second phase of the 

Zero-Risk Campaign have already taken 

place with Dirk Lindemann, Head 

of Iron Casting Europe, and Markus 

Rosenthal, Head of Light Metal 

Die-Casting Europe. The further course 

of the campaign will be decided at a 

meeting scheduled for autumn. Then 

this information will be passed on to 

the Managing Directors of the works. 

According to Frank Bettinger, positive 

side-effects of the efforts undertaken on 

the topic of occupational safety include 

the reduced number of sick days among 

employees, fewer plant downtimes, and 

– as Tina Köhler stressed – the additional 

attractiveness of jobs: “Unfortunately, 

many people still believe that foundries 

are dirty, loud and dangerous. The 

entire sector has to move away from this 

image – the up-and-coming generation 

wants highly technical jobs, so we have 

to do something about safety at work!” 

www.gfau.com 



Ralf Paarmann, Burscheid 

The future is big! 

The potentials for improvement, however, is to be found in the small details, one could say. Although 

northern Germans tend to be on the quiet side, one exception is located on the River Elbe. 

Global Castings GmbH, in Stade, is developing at record speed and, although everything is consis- 

tion 

has taken place there in collaboration with blasting media producer Ervin Amasteel 

The stage was set for growth when the 

Danish Global Castings Group took 

over the foundry of Casting Technology 

Stade (CTS) in August 2014. 

The production site now extends to 

30,000 m² and the number of employees 

has risen from 30 to 170. Casting at 

Stade mainly consists of components 

for offshore wind energy – workpieces 

that weigh 20 to 60 tonnes each. 

With two 40-tonne melting furnaces, 

the company is designed for casting 

and processing unit weights of up to 

120 tonnes. These northern Germans 

therefore rank among the true heavyweights 

of casting technology. 

Three times a month became 

four times a day 

As a result of its rapid development – 

casting in Stade used to take place only 

two or three times a month, but now 

occurs three to four times a day – decisions 

at Global Castings have to be 

made quickly. “We do not take long 

practising, we simply act,” explains 

Marian Bienek, Production Manager 

at Global Castings in Stade. Given 

this drive, there was an immediate reaction 

when the cleaning results for 

the steel-casting giants no longer met 

quality demands, necessitating laborious 

and time-intensive post-processing 

in Denmark before delivery. This 

was not compatible with the company’s 

straightforward philosophy. 

Read more on page 38 >> 

Among other things, the offshore windenergy 

industry relies on high-quality cast 

components produced by Global Castings 

in Stade (Photo: Shutterstock)


Attention turned to the steel 

blasting-media 

Global Castings wanted to achieve 

the best possible surface quality onsite 

and was prepared to make the corresponding 

changes to the parameters 

involved in cleaning the castings. 

Production Manager Oliver Schmidt 

( Figure 1) focused on the blasting-media: 

“It was only a matter of nudging all 

the other factors, adjusting the numbers 

behind the decimal point. But 

when it came to the blasting-media we 

believed that we could make the most 

difference here, i.e. achieve shorter 

blasting-times, lower costs, longer service 

lives and, above all, considerably 

better cleaning performance.” The bottom 

line was that quality and economic 

efficiency had to be right. 

Before the takeover by Global Castings, 

blasting was carried out in Stade with 

a high-carbon round-grain steel blasting-media 

from a Slovenian producer. 

This used to be sufficient, according 

to Schmidt: “The demands made 

of the parts we produced were lower 

at that time; the surface became verifiably 

clean at some point – finished.” 

Quality demands rose enormously 

with Global Castings and the focus on 

construction for offshore wind-energy 

plants, because the standards and inspection 

requirements for the wind industry 

are extremely high, particularly 

for components that are installed at 

sea and exposed to considerable stresses. 

“If something fails there, one cannot 

simply nip out to a wind turbine of 

these dimensions and repair it quickly. 

Things have to work properly for at 

least 30 years,” comments Schmidt. 

The Global Castings Group 

The international Global Castings Group in Denmark has other production 

sites in Denmark, Sweden and China. The Group is owned by the VTC 

holding company in Munich. www.globalcastings.com 

The production site of Ervin Amasteel Germany is located in Glaubitz. 

The parent company is located in the USA. www.ervin.eu 

Figure 1: Production Manager Oliver Schmidt (left) and Marian Bienek (Photo: Ralf Paarmann) 

An Amamix from Ervin 

Amasteel, made up of shot 

and grit, was the favourite 

So Global Castings started scouring 

the European market for a new steel 

blasting-media that could meet all 

the demands. In the end, a product 

from blasting-media producer Ervin 

Amasteel proved decisive. The right 

blasting-media mix was quickly found 

in collaboration with the experts from 

Ervin (which has been operating a 

production site in Glaubitz in Saxony 

since 2014). A mixture of high-carbon 

round grain (shot) and a medium-hard 

high-carbon angular grain (grit) was 

chosen. A series of tests in the laboratory 

showed that the Amamix (Figures 2 

and 3) would probably not only meet, 

but clearly exceed, the requirements of 

Global Castings. 

 

in practice 

Workpieces at Global Castings are 

blasted via seven turbines in an overhead-rail 

blasting-plant designed for 

large castings. All the laboratory results 

with the Amasteel blasting-media 

were confirmed here. Without 

damaging the material surfaces, the 

cleaning performance of the Amamix 

was considerably better than 

that achieved with the previous blasting-media. 

Furthermore the low consumption 

of the Amasteel product was 

a positive side effect. No detour via 

Denmark has been necessary for the 

castings since then. 


It was not only the result that impressed 

Schmidt, but also the straightforwardness 

of the blasting-media producer: 

“We explained what we needed 

and that is precisely what we got. There 

was a mutual exchange of experiences 

that rapidly brought us to our objective. 

And when we at Global Castings 

see that the path taken is going in 

the right direction, then we consistently 

continue along it and make the appropriate 

investments.” 

The direction is towards large 

castings in serial production 

This is equally true of the entire development 

of the company in Stade. For, 

while others are getting smaller and 

disappearing into micro-technology, 

precisely the opposite is taking place 

at Global Castings. “The future is big,” 

Schmidt is certain. The production processes, 

the casting plant and the finishing 

work with the installation of two 

enormous new machining centres, are 

designed for high-volume production at 

the foundry. In addition, there will soon 

be a second blasting-shop to ensure 

that surface treatment does not lag behind 

at Stade. The production of higher 

unit weights in serial quality makes the 

foundry unusual in the sector. 

Figure 2: Amamix fresh grain (Photos: Axel Elkemann/Amasteel) 

Figure 3: Amamix operating mixture. 

Port terminal was an important 

locational factor 

The site at Stade was deliberately chosen 

from this point of view. In addition 

to the modern foundry, there is a port 

terminal on the company grounds – a 

decisive factor. The extremely heavy 

workpieces can be delivered rapidly 

and economically to their destinations 

by ship from the port. The personnel 

at Stade want nothing to do with the 

rigid and closed image that foundries 

have. “We are open at Global Castings 

and have discussions with other companies. 

Our own employees also come 

from a variety of sectors. One constantly 

has to learn, develop and improve,” 

states Schmidt. The company leaves 

nothing to chance in its continuous 

optimization process, because potential 

is often found in the little things, 

even for those who play big as in this 

case with the blasting-media. 

http://ervinamasteel.eu 


COMPANY 

Dieter Beste, Düsseldorf 

Matthies Druckguss: combining 

tradition with innovation! 

Longstanding customers and loyal personnel – Jörn Matthies has many constants at his works. 

After all, Matthies Druckguss is a real family-run company whose 60-year history makes it highly 

appreciative of its values. There is also, however, a lot of change in the range of activities offered 

by Matthies Druckguss. And a focus on the future. Important prerequisites that enable the entrepreneur 

to compete on the market, and even prove that he is a pioneer 

Since 1974 Jörn Matthies has been continuing 

what his father, Willy Matthies, 

started in 1955: die-casting production. 

In 2008 Jörn’s son Marco also 

joined Matthies Druckguss as Works 

Manager. And with him 20 more employees 

in production and administration. 

Many of the personnel have been 

loyal to the company for more than 25 

years. A real family-run company. And 

one that can evidently take on the big 

players. This is no accident, but the result 

of an unflagging innovative spirit. 

The company’s impressive variety of 

working materials, for example, is convincing: 

it offers a total of nine different 

aluminum, zinc and brass alloys. 

Moreover, the company undertakes 

unit numbers that competitors only 

rarely offer – with minimum runs from 

just 1,000 units per series. That this is 

profitable, despite the high mold costs 

that initially accrue for die-casting, is 

also due to the large number of active 

customers. Many of them regularly 

have their castings produced by Matthies, 

sometimes over decades. This is 

another steady feature of the company’s 

history. In addition to German 

customers, Matthies also supplies companies 

from Austria, Romania, Norway 

or India, for example. Customers come 

from the most varied of sectors: from 

machine construction to sanitary engineering. 

Most of the products are 

destined for use in safety technology 

and shading equipment (including 

castings for awnings, blinds and other 

elements that provide protection 

Successful together! The Matthies team builds upon personal contact, a holistically functioning process chain, and extensive expertise 

(Photos: Matthies). 


against the sun). New markets have 

been opened up in the lighting industry 

thanks to the increasing use of LED 

technology. 

A holistic process chain for 

high added value 

The company’s ambition is to present 

customers with precisely the result 

that they want. And with a quality that 

sets standards. In order to ensure that 

this is the case, Matthies Druckguss 

employs a completely holistic process 

chain – from the very first consultation, 

through acceptance of the pattern, 

to production itself. This also includes 

the machining that gives the 

products their final finishing touches. 

CNC processing and milling are now 

an integral part of the company’s portfolio, 

further distinguishing Matthies 

from the pack. 

And the company never loses sight 

of quality management, including 

not just inspection and measurement 

technology, but also the regular training 

of employees. This keeps standards 

high. Finally, the company maintains 

its own forwarding company – ensuring 

reliable, safe deliveries that arrive 

on time. 

Matthies cast design – surface 

 

The brand Matthies cast design is the 

company’s latest milestone. This process 

of surface finishing makes it possible, 

for the first time, to produce optically 

high-quality die-castings with 

A good ERP system supports the employees 

with documentation and archiving. 

Matthies exploits state-of-the-art measuring equipment and inspection methods, such 

as X-ray inspection, spectral analyses and heat-imaging cameras 

 

in compliance with the DIN EN ISO 

9001:2008 standard since 2003 


COMPANY 

high-gloss polishing. And economically 

too, which in turn ensures that 

the castings can be used for decorative 

purposes. 

Thus, for example, high-gloss polished 

aluminum castings are excellent 

for the furniture industry, for the interiors 

of vehicles, or for décor. The production 

process is also advantageous 

for corrosion protection. The new process 

helps protect the environment 

and cuts costs because it does not require 

any expensive galvanic chrome 

plating of the parts. The use of acids, 

chemical cleaners and additional polishing 

waxes is also unnecessary, and 

the electricity consumption of the production 

steps is considerably reduced. 

Customers expect complete 

solutions 

Jörn Matthies considers activities such 

as these vital if his company is to remain 

competitive in the long term, 

“Customers do not want to take any 

risks nowadays. They therefore expect 

a single contact that will take on the 

entire responsibility, consolidate their 

requirements, and offer them complete 

solutions. This has changed our 

role enormously over time: we now 

mainly consider ourselves to be service 

providers.” And many customers want 

to keep their stocks to a minimum – 

which is fine for Matthies considering 

the low unit numbers that they can 

deliver if necessary. Despite his service-provider 

attitude, however, the 

entrepreneur also considers a cooperative 

approach with his customers important: 

“Both sides should make sure 

that the joy of doing business remains 

intact, and that one can meet and work 

together as equals.” 

Exchanges within the sector 

How are customer demands changing? 

What direction is the market 

taking? These are also questions that 

interest the Coastal Group of the German 

Foundry Association (BDG). The 

Committee represents eight northern 

German foundry companies. Jörn 

Matthies has been involved with it as 

the Chairman for six years. He profits, 

above all, from the possibility of 

exchanging information within the 

Matthies Druckguss is now managed by Jörn Matthies. Since 2008 he has been supported 

by his son Marco Matthies (right) as Works Manager 

View of the production hall at Matthies Druckguss 

sector. “The Group provides an ideal 

platform for discussing certain topics 

and for learning from the experiences 

of the other members.” The agenda 

often includes costs meetings, for example, 

at which representatives from 

the companies discuss price structures 

in the sector as well as savings potentials. 

“This allows us to better assess 

where we stand and what challenges 

we will have to expect in the future.” 

And he does not underestimate the importance 

of this opportunity to drive 

forward BDG activities, and thus influence 

political decisions made in the 

sector’s interests. 

In November 2016 the company was 

re-certified as being in compliance 

with DIN EN ISO 9001:2008. A sign 

that Matthies Druckguss continues to 

take his values and intentions seriously 

– and is working to achieve the best 

castings results for his customers. 

www.druckgiesser.com 


NEWS 

RGU 

 

Since November 2016, RGU GmbH, 

Dortmund, Germany, has a new presence 

in the Asia-Pacific region with an 

operation based in Singapore covering 

all markets as its regional Headquarter. 

“The new entity opens up possibilities 

for strategic and project-related 

work directly on site. We believe in this 

region and are establishing our RGU. 

FRP software family here – increasing 

our presence in the Asia-Pacific region,” 

says Ronald Kreft, Managing Director 

of RGU GmbH. 

RGU was founded in 1984. For more 

than 30 years the company has been 

delivering specific software solutions 

to foundries. From the initial enquiry 

through to when cast parts are ready 

for shipment, RGU supports processes 

with its RGU.FRP software. 

Because RGU focuses exclusively on 

foundries, FRP stands for Foundry Resource 

Planning (derived from Enterprise 

Resource Planning, ERP). 

 

UNIVERSITY OF KRAKOW 

 

 

This year the Faculty of Foundry Engineering 

in Krakow, Poland, can look 

back on 65 years of R&D in foundry 

technology. The occasion was celebrated 

in a two-day event in Krakow. 

Two scientific sessions for graduate and 

PhD students were held on the first 

day along with an industries session 

where, amongst other things, practice 

in foundries and modern research solutions 

and measuring instruments for 

science and industry were considered. 

The day of celebrations ended with a 

traditional Foundryman’s Ball organized 

by the faculty student council 

at the Faculty of Foundry Engineering. 

The main part of the 65th anniversary 

of the Faculty of Foundry Engineering 

took place on the second day 

in the Witek Conference Center in Krakow. 

This Jubilee gathered together 

over 200 participants and was attended 

by the department staff and a large 

group of invited guests, representing 

the domestic and foreign research 

units and academic associations related 

to casting. The anniversary was attended 

by representatives of international 

scientific institutions including 

the University of Jonkoping, Sweden, 

the University of Bucharest, Romania, 

the Central Metallurgical R & D Institute, 

Egypt, and the University of Burgundy, 

France. 

The Faculty of Foundry Engineering 

at AGH (AGH University of Science and 

Technology Krakow) educates specialists 

for the whole spectrum of foundry 

technology, making it a unique faculty 

of this profile and scope within universities 

in Poland and Europe. The Faculty 

educates in two fields of study – engineering 

of foundry processes and 

computer-aided engineering processes 

– and offers full-time and extramural 

engineering, MA and PhD courses. 

There are four departments: the department 

of foundry process engineering; 

the department of cast alloys and 

composites engineering; the department 

of molding materials, mold technology 

and cast non-ferrous metals; 

and the department of chemistry and 

corrosion of metals. A very important 

activity is the collaboration with leading 

universities and research centres in 

Poland and abroad. The Faculty actively 

co-operates with approx 80 % of the 

country’s almost 500 foundries. 

Source: Foundry Trade Journal 

 


NEWS 

 

 

Two companies – O/Cava Meccanica 

S.P.A., Ferrere, Italy and Heinrich Wagner 

Sinto (HWS), Bad Laasphe, Germany 

– have committed themselves to a 

joint approach towards the foundry industry, 

based on trust and mutual technical 

expertise. 

O/Cava Meccanica is a leading company 

producing high-quality casting 

components for industrial vehicles, axles 

and agricultural machinery. It 

strives to offer customers high-tech finished 

products with high added-value. 

HWS, a world-class manufacturer of 

tight-flask molding lines, aims to continue 

its approach to achieve perfection 

in every single mold. 

In May 2017, HWS was awarded an order 

for a completely new molding line for 

O/Cava Meccanica’s foundry in Ferrere. 

Flask size is 940x940x400+60/350 mm 

with a maximum capacity of 200 molds 

per hour. The line is equipped with a ZFA- 

SD 5 twin-molding machine with Seiatsu 

airflow and multi-ram piston squeezing, 

combined with Seiatsu.plus cope and 

drag from the pattern side. It completely 

replaces the old molding machine and 

line installed in 1990. 

Initial concept meetings between O/ 

Cava and HWS took place about threeand-a-half 

years ago. Various scenarios 

were discussed before finally achieving 

 

 

joint approval of a new concept converting 

a molding line with vertical and 

horizontal electro-mechanical drive 

systems and cooling inside the cooling 

house to double cooling jackets within 

a welded structure. 

Just two years ago, O/Cava awarded 

HWS an order to replace the existing 

Mecana pouring automat. Nine months 

later, the new HWS automatic pouring 

system passed the final acceptance test. 

During the design, installation and 

commissioning phases both companies 

confirmed that this partnership would 

be further expanded, and that that they 

would team up to rebuild the heart of 

the foundry, i.e. the molding plant. 

 

 

MONOMETER ROTARY FURNACES 

 

Refining technology by Monometer, 

Leigh-on-Sea, UK is now being applied 

successfully to achieve selective removal of 

heavy metal impurities down to 100ppm 

in copper secondary metallurgy. Related 

applications for this technology include 

degassing, desulphurization and decarburizing. 

Metallurgical treatment combines 

flux injection with gaseous diffusion and 

is supported by plc-controlled and repeatable 

variable flame chemistry. 

Utilizing established Monometer rotary 

furnace operating parameters and 

design, the Monometer refining technology 

integrates seamlessly with existing 

processes of smelting, refining and 

alloying. With optional retro-integration, 

foundries achieve the higher purities 

and specifications of products typically 

associated with more costly feed 

materials – despite using lower-grade 

charge materials. 

The rotary furnace technology of the 

British company extends to smelting 

the typical foundry dross and oxide 

wastes formed during normal furnace 

operations. Each of the smelting, refining 

and alloying processes is carried out 

Monometer Rotary Furnace 

(Photo: Monometer) 


in a single furnace system for a range of 

metal specifications while avoiding carryover 

contamination between cycles. 

For example, Monometer’s recent installation 

in the Chelyabinsk region of 

Russia enabled the production of copper 

granules from Birch/Cliff scrap to a suitable 

specification for the ultimate production 

of copper sulphate for the food industry. 

Monometer supplied the turnkey 

installation including the furnace system, 

charger, flux injector, refining injection 

technology and bag house filter system. 

The Monometer furnace system is typically 

supplied with a 4.5 to 6 tonne capacity 

Monometer rotary tilting furnace, although 

furnaces with bath capacities up 

to 10 m 3 are available as standard. All furnace 

sizes are suitable for higher temperature 

processes, such as the treatment of 

copper concentrate, sponge iron and 

metallur gical adjustment of cast irons, or 

may be applied to applications such as degassing 

of aluminium, by the diffusion of 

argon or nitrogen, and targeted element 

removal such as for sulphur and carbon. 

Heavy metals such as nickel require cycles 

of selective flux treatment in the process of 

oxidation followed by reduction. Other 

components of the plant may include the 

Monometer low dust and low noise rotary 

charger, porous gas diffusion technology, 

oxy-fuel burner system, exhaust filter for 

all particulates and fines including hooding, 

settler, bag filter, the fluxing agents injector, 

and consumable spare parts. 

Monometer continues to develop rotary 

furnace technology to increase flexibility 

and thermal efficiency. As part of this programme 

fully regenerative burner systems 

suitable for a range of medium temperature 

processes are now supplied in areas where 

oxygen is either relatively expensive or 

practically unavailable.Regenerative burners 

offer energy efficiency and reduced cycle 

times approaching the performance of 

oxy-fuel melting, without consuming 

bought-in oxygen. Monometer’s lower cost 

options for burner technology include low 

no x 

systems operating with high efficiency 

multi-pass tubular recuperators, and a 

range of low and medium pressure burners. 

All Monometer burners are designed to operate 

with most liquid fuels incl. standard 

furnace and diesel oils, reclaimed oils, coal 

tar fuels and many bio fuels. 

 

Void in casting, after 

machining, seen with a 

Hawkeye Pro Hardy 7” 

We Manufacture 

80 Models of Borescopes 

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you select the right one! 

Quickly and easily inspect for sand, voids, flash, and surface 

finish irregularities, even inside complex castings! 

Sand visible with a 

Hawkeye Pro Slim 

12” Rigid Borescope 

Flash as seen with a 

Hawkeye V2 

Video Borescope 

High-quality rigid, flexible and video borescopes, at far 

lower prices than comparable instruments! 

Manufacturers of complex castings now have a fast, affordable 

way to improve quality control in their visual inspection process 

with Hawkeye ® Pro Borescopes. We stock over 80 models of rigid, 

flexible and video borescopes, and accessories. The right scope for 

your application can deliver detailed images of sand, voids, flash, 

surface-finish irregularities, and numerous other defects that can 

affect the quality of a wide range of mission-critical castings used in 

transportation, power generation, and more. 

Visit us at the: 

METALCASTING CONGRESS 

Booth 523 • Milwaukee, WI 

April 25 - 27, 2017 

gradientlens.com 585.235.2620

NEWS 

 

 

South Africa is actively expanding 

supply-side support for local metals 

and components manufacturing as 

the manufacturing industry moves 

into the fourth industrial revolution. 

In addition, South African (SA) metal 

casting businesses need to transform 

in terms of human capital, innovation 

and sustainability to arrest the decline 

of the sector and compete on a global 

scale. 

South Africa has about 170 foundries 

which directly employ about 9,500 

people. A total of 25 foundries have 

closed in South Africa since 2010, shedding 

1,600 jobs. 

This emerged at the Metal Casting 

Conference in March which was held 

in Johannesburg and included the 

World Foundry Organisation (WFO) 

Technical Forum as well as the 7th 

BRICS Foundry Forum. 

“In the next Industrial Policy Action 

Plan (IPAP), we are emphasizing the 

importance of supporting the metals 

and casting industries to modernize 

and grow. This requires support in 

terms of research and development, 

human resource development and 

supply-side support in the form of incentives 

for the metals and agroprocessing 

industries. Along with demand-side 

initiatives, such as local 

procurement designations, this support 

will help to grow demand,” said 

General Lionel October, Director of the 

South African Department of Trade & 

Industry. 

The 291 delegates heard emphasis 

being given to new markets and strategy 

as well as leaders for the future in 

the plenary sessions. Metallurgy, technology 

and processes were covered in 

industry and technical presentations 

as well as academic streams, and 28 exhibitors 

participated in the exhibition. 

John Davies, CEO of the South African 

Institute of Foundrymen, said, 

“Foundries need to embrace and adapt 

to the new manufacturing technologies 

of the fourth industrial revolution 

by being informed of the latest research 

and developments. While there 

are challenges, ultimately there is a 

need to modernize for sustainability.” 

Some of the challenges faced by 

foundries include the costs of compliance 

with new regulations, such as air 

emissions standards. They put a strain 

on small and medium-sized foundry 

 

- 

 

businesses, which are also dealing with 

a lack of off-take agreements and high 

levels of capital investment requirements 

due to ageing infrastructure and 

capital equipment. 

The 7th BRICS Foundry Forum, in 

conjunction with the World Foundry 

Organisation working group for Human 

Capital Development, hosted a 

collaboration workshop with international 

and local industry players to 

find practical and immediate actions 

to drive the growth of the global industry. 

 

 

New site in China 

In order to meet the increasing demands of clients throughout 

the country and serve as a hub to support clients and projects 

throughout the Asia Pacific region, the site of Italpresse 

in China has been relocated to a larger shop in Kunshan. 

Italpresse, Capriano del Colle, Italy, has been active in 

China since 1990 and the branch in Shanghai was established 

in 2005 with the aim of supporting sales activities, 

project management and service for local customers. 

ConviTec 

Vibration machines and conveying technology 

Project planning – Manufacturing - Service 

www.convitec.net · 069 / 84 84 89 7- 0 

The site will be coordinated by Marco Antonacci, the new 

General Manager of Italpresse Kunshan Die Casting Equipment, 

CO, LTD., who will be supporting customers as regards 

sales, spare parts, service and technical requests with the cooperation 

of the onsite sales and service team. 

“Our expansion in China’s market reflects our continuing 

commitment to providing superior service to our global clients 

as well as our local China-based clients,” stated Antonacci, 

“The entire Asia-Pacific market remains a key strategic 

area for Italpresse.” 

Every year the Chinese market demands further improved 

quality and performance, which is why Italpresse intends to 

improve its presence in China. The new site intends to meet 

the needs of the customers, increasing spare parts availability 

on site, customer care and project management capability. 

 


In the manufacture of castings, the molten 

metal’s temperature is still often 

measured manually with immersion 

thermometers. For measuring, the immersion 

probe is dipped into the melt. 

A new element is necessary for each 

measurement. Because of costs of about 

1 US-dollar (0.9 euro) per element, the 

mere running costs reach several thousand 

dollars a year. Excluding costs for 

the operating personnel. 

With the modern CellaTemp PT 183 

infrared thermometer from Keller HCW, 

Ibbenbüren-Laggenbeck, Germany, the 

operator of the casting machine can 

now measure infrared radiation – and 

thus the temperature of the molten 

metal – without contact and from a safe 

distance. The device, specially developed 

for measuring molten metals, can 

detect the correct temperature of slag 

and oxide-free surfaces within seconds 

due to its intelligent filter function. The 

two-color or dual wavelength measuring 

method ensures stable and accurate 

temperature readings, despite dust and 

smoke in the field of view. The rectangular 

measuring area of the pyrometer 

also contributes towards reliable measurement, 

even in a fluctuating pouring 

stream. 

The portable CellaTemp PT 183 is 

used at the runner of blast and cupola 

furnaces, when pouring into the ladle, 

and especially when pouring the melt 

into molds. This measuring location, in 

particular, is decisive for the process and 

enables the control and documentation 

of compliance with the permitted pouring 

temperature for each casting produced. 

Proof of compliance with the necessary 

pouring temperature cannot be 

provided because the temperature is 

measured using immersion probes in 

the furnace or ladle before filling. Complex 

components have a scrap rate well 

over 10 %. Measurement with the pyrometer 

can reduce the scrap rate to below 

3 %. The resulting cost savings amount 

to several thousand dollars a month, depending 

on output quantities. 

Fixed measuring systems with connection 

to central data acquisition are 

available on the market. The CellaTemp 

PT 183 mobile device is used for quick 

checks in between. A patented traffic 

light status indicator, integrated in the 

viewfinder, tells the user the optimum 

measuring distance. 

In contrast to immersion thermometers, 

infrared thermometers are wearfree, 

maintenance-free and extremely 

long-lived. Investment costs are therefore 

amortized in 2 - 3 months. 

 

Industrial-Grade 3D Printing 

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BROCHURES 

Briquetting systems 

4 pages, English 

This brochure outlines the range of metal chips briquetting machines offered by RUF 

Maschinenbau. With the systems, metals can be processed into briquettes measuring 

between 60x50 mm and 150x120 mm with throughput rates between 30 and 

tive 

briquette formats. 

Information: www.briquetting.com 

Foundry vibratory equipment 


Specialists in vibratory equipment, interVIB, manufacture a wide range of machinery for 

- 

 

trough conveyors, vibratory screens, etc. 

www.intervib.de 

Solutions for the foundry industry 

8 pages, English, German 

This brochure provides an overview of the wide range of vibration and conveying sys- 

 

molding, core sand transport and recycling solutions, including the lost foam process 

and melting operations. 

Information: www.joest.com 

LIBS element analyzers for the recycling industry 


In this brochure, SECOPTA describes the advantages of employing LIBS (Laser Induced 

 

grouping of aluminium alloys, assorting low-alloy steel scrap, separating stainless steel 

 

 

Information: www.secopta.de 


Engineered valves for critical applications 


A comprehensive brochure detailing the range of valves engineered by IMI TH Jansen 

for applications in areas such as iron and steel, water management, and chemical and 

- 

 

Information: www.imi-critical.com 

Strip centre measurement at high temperatures 


 

EMG-Vivaldi® sensor designed for measurements through the furnace insulation and 

an enclosed, gas-tight plate on the furnace wall. The system is based on the use of a 

ultra-wideband slot antenna, which is also called Vivaldi antenna. 

Information: www.emg-automation.com 

Coatings 


A brochure providing information about coating products offered by SG Group. Includ- 

 

for steel and iron castings, lost foam casting, metal mold surfaces in aluminium casting 

and specialized products such as chill coatings. 

Information: www.shengquan.com 

Sand plant installations 


 

systems built by JML, including all stages of the sand preparation processes from the 

- 

 

Information: www.jml-industrie.com 


Fairs and Congresses 

Metal + Metallurgy China 2017 

 

 

Metef 2017 

 

www.metef.com 

5. International Cupola Conference 

 

www.bdguss.de 

2. International Thermprocess Summit 

 

 

China Diecasting + Aluminium 2017 

 

 

57th International Foundry Conference 2017 

 

 

Advertisers´ Index 

Admar Group 45 

AGTOS Ges. für technische 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giesstechnische Produ 

 

 

 

 

Jasper Ges. für Energiewirtschaft und 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monometer Group

PREVIEW / IMPRINT 

Preview of the next issue 

Publication date: September 2017 

Brake disk production at Grohmann Aluworks GmbH & Co. KG 

Selection of topics: 

M. Holzapfel: Grohmann relies on new software 

In order to remain competitive, foundry company Grohmann from Bisingen, Germany, has replaced its insulated IT landscape 

with software that has also rationalized and optimized business processes throughout the company. 

C. Gallerne: Virtual manufacturing solution for castings 

Until recently, there has been a lack of simulation solutions that take the real performance of die-casting machines into account. 

Procast is software that calculates the hydraulic injection force by including geometrical and gas counter-pressure. 

T. Möldner: From simulation to the optimized furnace 

Researchers have developed a system for monitoring and controlling the melting process, enabling a significant reduction 

in melting times and improvements in energy efficiencies of up to 15%. 

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