CPT International 02/2021

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WITH SUPPLIERS GUIDE 

Juni 

2021 

CASTING 

PLANT AND TECHNOLOGY 

INTERNATIONAL 

2 

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EDITORIAL 

Innovative spirit and digitalization 

shape the future! 

The vaccination rate is rising worldwide –asisthe hope that, as the 

time of social distancing comes to an end, we will soon beattending 

meetings and conferences again. It will be seen that the pandemic has 

not been lost time in technological terms. What matters now is to 

look to the future, which will be characterized by asustained innovative 

spirit and continuing digitalization. 

state-of-the-art and will come out of 

the pandemic strengthened (read our 

interview from P. 6) 

There was also no loss of innovative 

spirit during the crisis: at the International 

Foundry Conference in Portoroz 

(Slovenia) last September, Ashley Stone 

presented his plant design for casting 

semi-solid magnesium. Now CP+T offers 

him the opportunity to present his casting 

technology for the “green 21st century”, 

that can also be used for drive 

forward digitalization (from P. 16). 

Robert Piterek 

e-mail: robert.piterek@bdguss.de 

While the pandemic is gradually 

going to come to an end, 

some casters are looking 

back at this time with satisfaction. 

Because various foundries have used 

the crisis to expand their value-creation 

chains and have, for example, built up 

their mechanical processing capabilities. 

Such is the case at the die-casting 

foundry Industria Metalli in Bedizzole 

(Italy) which will in future offer their 

customers tangible added value and 

will thus be able to become more competitive 

(see P. 10). 

The clock has also continued to tick at 

other places in the sector, where the 

next generation of managers start to 

work. Anew man will take the place of 

Heinz Nelissen, GIFA President 2019 and 

Foseco’s Head ofNorthern Europe. 

According to Hannes Erger, German 

foundries represent the technological 

Digitalization in the foundry industry 

has been arepeated topic in recent 

issues. At the same time, many foundries 

around the world still operate as 

they did in the old days. How far has 

the foundry industry come on its transformation 

process towards the foundry 

of the future? The sector is put to the 

test using Germany as an example. Is 

the digital foundry merely wishful 

thinking or amodel for the future? Find 

out more from Page 32. 

This issue offers an expanded news 

review. New faces are presented, as are 

important partnerships, innovative processes 

and new plants. Whereby the 

trend continues to ever-larger die-casting 

plants for large light-metal castings 

with integrated functions, e.g. from 

Italpresse Gauss or the Bühler Group. 

Have agood read! 

CASTING PLANT &TECHNOLOGY 2/2021 3

CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

6 INTERVIEW 

“The foundry industry will emerge stronger 

from the pandemic!“ 

At Foseco, Hannes Erger succeeds Heinz Nelissen. 

Interview with the two experts about Foseco‘s 

future challenges and the state of the German 

foundry industry. Robert Piterek, Martin Vogt 

10 MACHINING 

Expanding value creation in the lockdown 

Atraditional foundry in the Italian region of Lombardy 

used the involuntary break in production to 

establish amechanical manufacturing facility. 

Nikolaus Fecht 

16 CASTING TECHNOLOGY 

MAXImolding -Magnesium alloy injection 

molding in the digital foundry 

Inventor Ashley Stone combined the advantages of 

Thixomolding and hot- and cold-chamber high-pressure 

casting machines into the MAXImolding 

machine and process. Ashley Stone, Edo Meyer 

DIGITALIZATION 

Charging via Joystick 

at Düker in Laufach. 

New technologies 

bring long term competitive 

advantages. 

MACHINING 

Industria Metalli used 

the lockdown to build 

up a mechanical 

manufacturing facility. 

24 SIMULATION 

Optimizing service life of die casting tools 

Tool life is one of the main cost factors in high 

pressure die casting. The Italian foundry Mazzucconi 

used Magmasoft to increse the die life of a 

steering housing, Andreas Heitmann, Mechele 

Zanni, Daniele Bianchi. 

GRINDING 

New grinding wheels 

for more productivity 

and quality. 

Cover-Photo: 

JASPER Gesellschaft für Energiewirtschaft 

und Kybernetik mbH 

Bönninghauser Strasse 10 

59590 Geseke (Germany) 

info@jasper-gmbh.de 

www.jasper-gmbh.de 

4

CONTENTS 

INTERVIEW 

Hannes Erger succeeds 

Heinz Nelissen 

at Foseco. 

27 AUTOMATION 

From casting to cleaning in 60 seconds 

A60second cycle is made possible by aproduction 

line from August Mössner, Dietmar Schmid, Christian 

Kunz 

30 GRINDING 

Cool grinding for more parts per wheel 

Anew elctroplated single-layer grinding wheel 

increases productivity and product quality, Andreas 

Eckhard 

32 DIGITALIZATION 

The digital foundry –wishful thinking or a 

model for the future? 

To what extent have digital production technologies 

so far taken over the work halls of German 

and Swiss foundries? Alook at the foundries 

reveals it, Robert Piterek 

36 MOLD AND COREMAKING 

Efficient curing process of the core making 

machine 

The article features the development method, 

value, and performance of the core heater with an 

integrated design concept, Yang Linlong, Xu Leilei 

COLUMNS 

3 EDITORIAL 

41 NEWS 

51 SUPPLIER GUIDE 

58 FAIRS AND KONGRESSES/AD INDEX 

59 PREVIEW/IMPRINT 

NEWS 

The trend to ever-larger 

die casting plants 

for large light-metal 

castings continues. 


INTERVIEW 

Photos: BDG/Vogt; Foseco 

Interview situation in times of the pandemic. Heinz Nelissen and Hannes Erger answer questions from the GIESSEREI editorial team. 

„The foundry industry will emerge 

stronger from the pandemic!“ 

With Heinz Nelissen, President of GIFA 2019 and Managing Director at Foseco/Vesuvius, 

one ofthe best-known movers and shakers in the foundry industry is retiring. With Hannes 

Erger, the group isfilling the succession inthe management from its own ranks. In 

the interview, the two experts explain what challenges Foseco will face in the future and 

where Germany‘s foundry industry currently stands. 

Mr. Nelissen, aclassic question to start 

with: What will you do in the future? 

Ihave arranged with my wife that we 

will go on certain trips together. Of 

course, Ihave been afrequent traveller 

in the past years -onbusiness, of 

course. Family holidays have long taken 

aback seat to that. We will change 

that, for example to catch up with New 

York, where we actually already wanted 

to go in 2020. South Africa is also one 

of our goals. 

In addition, Iwill do more 

endurance sports and would like to hike 

regularly around Unterbacher See in 

Düsseldorf. But still, Iwon‘t leave the 

industry completely in my mind. Iwill 

certainly continue to follow its magazines 

GIESSEREI and CP+T International. 

And Ialso plan to attend the one or 

other foundry event. 

Youhave been working in the Foseco 

Group since the end of the 1980s. What 

has changed during this time? 

Nelissen: Youcould write abook about 

that. Yesterday and today are worlds 

apart. First, German unification brought 

with it the large newly accessible 

foundry market in the five East German 

states. By visiting the big foundries, 

making contacts and presenting the 

products, this was avery big change 

that continues to this day, because a 

large part of the German foundry 

industry is in the East. Then in the 1990s 

there was too much foundry capacity in 

Germany, which led toastrong consolidation. 

Nevertheless, casting tonnage in 

Germany remained stable, but spread 

over fewer locations. However, other 

large European markets such as the UK 

and France lost large amounts of casting 

capacity to Eastern Europe and Turkey. 

Then there has been heavy investment 

in automation -atrend that 

continues today. Ifyou look at today‘s 

molding lines, they have become much 

faster compared to the past. Today, significantly 

more castings are produced 

per employee hour than in the past. At 

6

the same time, we see agrowth in 

non-ferrous foundries and ashift 

towards processes that can be automated. 

The challenges of globalization created 

new market access, but also new 

competitors, for foundries as well as 

foundry suppliers. Foundries today are 

much cleaner, interms of emissions and 

overall appearance, and some can be 

considered high-tech operations. 

Where does the German foundry industry 

stand today? 

Compared to the rest of Europe, Germany 

has been and remains the number 

one country for cast tonnage, albeit 

now with completely different segments, 

alloys and processes. But Germany 

is still in avery good position, also 

because of its philosophy of investing 

and modernizing processes. That is not 

necessarily the case in other countries. 

Now, the use of energy is being optimized 

in this country, for example in furnaces. 

Because the non-ferrous sector is 

growing very strongly, wealso see large 

investments in the die-casting sector. 

The willingness to spend money on 

modernization is astrength that Germany 

has and that also ensures that we 

remain aleader. 

Heinz Nelissen has been successfully involved with Foseco for 31 years. He has already resigned 

from his position as Managing Director at Vesuvius GmbH. He will remain Foseco Area 

Director Northern Europe until the end of June. In 2019, he was president of GIFA. 

Mr. Nelissen, in 2019 you were appointed 

President of GIFA, which was very 

successful that year. What do you think 

will become of the GIFA trade fair format 

under the impression of 2020 and 

increasing digitalization? 

Trade fairs are currently struggling to 

show how important they are for the 

trade. GIFA 2019 was different, as it was 

very successful and took place at just 

the right moment. We already saw a 

downturn in car manufacturing at the 

end of2019, then the Corona crisis 

came just afew months later. Since 

then, digitalization has been advancing 

in leaps and bounds, even our interview 

would probably have been conducted 

in person rather than via Microsoft 

Teams if it hadn‘t been for Corona. In 

the meantime, we at Foseco also conduct 

alot of customer meetings online. 

This digitalization push will continue 

and lead to further process automation 

in the foundries and to more advanced 

robot technology. This will certainly be 

afocus at the next GIFA in2023. The 

next GIFA will probably also be able to 

take place as aface-to-face event again. 

This is necessary to stimulate the dialogue 

ofthe international foundry world. 

By 2023 the foundry market will have 

stabilized again and 2023 could therefore, 

from today‘s point of view, be 

exactly the right date for the next successful 

GIFA. 

Mr. Nelissen, you resigned from the 

management of Foseco’ sparent company 

Vesuvius at the beginning of the 

year. You will relinquish your post as 

Area Director Northern Europe in the 

summer. Hannes Erger will become a 

member of the management of Vesuvius 

in Borken. What would you like to 

pass on to him? 

Hannes Erger is already very experienced 

inhis previous job, he knows the 

customer structure and the core contact 

persons. He is already very well positioned. 

Otherwise: Focus on customers 

and employees. This is the only way we 

can learn about challenges in the market 

atanearly stage, develop targeted 

solutions and then establish them with 

the customers through our employees. 

This is the only way to create value for 

the customer and to make the business 

sustainable. There will be many challenges, 

but ifyou ever must weigh up between 

an internal meeting and acustomer 

meeting, choose: Customer first! 

That has always been my priority. 

Mr. Erger, you have been working at 

Foseco for 21 years, currently as Business 

Unit Manager Iron and Steel 

Foundries. With what feelings are you 

taking over from Mr. Nelissen? 

Erger: Ihave been working with Mr. 

Nelissen for more than 20 years and I 

am full of enthusiasm to take over 

from him, but at the same time Iknow 

that this will be agreat challenge for 

me, as Heinz Nelissen has made aname 

for himself in the foundry world as a 

very competent and respected partner 

for customers, employees and foundry 

experts over decades. However, Iam 

happy to take on this challenge and 

am confident that Iwill be able to continue 

the cooperative relationship with 

the foundrymen that Mr. Nelissen has 

shaped. 

What would you like to achieve for 

your company as Mr. Nelissen’ ssuccessor 

at Foseco? 

Erger: Foseco stands for Foundry Service 

Company. The basic idea is to be at the 

service of the customer and together 

with the customer we will continue to 

apply our proven Foseco business 

model. In the cooperation between the 

management personnel in the foundries 

and our sales engineers, topics such 

as changes in processes or minimizing 

the use of resources are important 

aspects. With innovative Foseco product 

applications, we want to continue to 

achieve productivity increases and quality 

improvements. We also have many 

new product ideas ‘in the pipeline’, 

developed in our development centre in 

the Dutch city of Enschede according to 

the requirements of our global foundry 

customers. Wewill present these to our 

customers inatimely manner. Foseco 

wants to contribute to making foundry 

products ‘Made in Germany’ even more 

efficient and attractive. In this way we 


INTERVIEW 

can help to secure Germany as an 

important foundry location in the long 

term. 

Mr. Nelissen, Mr. Erger. The foundry 

industry is affected by the pandemic. 

The trend towards electromobility continues. 

In which direction is the industry 

developing? 

Nelissen: Casting tonnage in Germany 

fell by around 35 %in2020 due to the 

pandemic-related reduction in the 

market. Incidentally, the magnitude is 

reminiscent of the effects of the 2009 

financial crisis. The global trends 

remain essentially unaffected by the 

pandemic. Today, weassume that cast 

tonnage will stabilize again over the 

course of two years and return to the 

level of 2019. E-mobility is, of course, a 

trend that is strongly influencing the 

market, especially for passenger cars. If 

hybrid vehicles are produced, the cast 

share is stable. With all-electric 

vehicles, more non-ferrous metal castings 

are used, but important iron castings, 

especially in the engine and 

drive area, are eliminated. The corresponding 

foundries must look for replacements 

in time. 

Erger: This is adifficult question to answer 

because the world continues to be 

during aglobal health crisis and aworld 

economic crisis whose effects are still 

uncertain. Ithink, like Mr. Nelissen, that 

the German foundry industry and thus 

also Foseco will have to deal with the 

consequences of the Corona pandemic 

in the medium term. But in the end, I 

am convinced that we will emerge 

stronger from the pandemic. It is 

important to make the right business 

decisions now toposition ourselves for 

the future. Ofcourse, this also includes 

the orientation of the companies, especially 

the automotive foundries, to face 

the changing demands ofthe electromobility 

market and to break new 

ground. Brake discs and various chassis 

parts will probably remain, but engine 

blocks will certainly disappear. However, 

it will certainly be several years before 

electromobility can establish itself. For 

that, fundamental changes in the infrastructure 

are still necessary, which first 

have to be created. 

And what challenges do you both see 

for Foseco? 

Nelissen: Foseco is part of the Vesuvius 

Group, which has come through the crisis 

in astable manner so far. Ingeneral, 

however, Foseco, the foundry business 

Hannes Erger has been appointed to the management team in Borken. He has been working 

for Foseco for more than 20 years, currently Business Unit Manager for the iron and 

steel foundry sector. Infuture, he will also represent this sector in public relations and 

association work. 

of Vesuvius, is globally positioned. We 

can therefore compensate for geographical 

shifts in demand. Now we see a 

lot of demand in Eastern Europe and 

Mexico. Market proximity is always in 

demand. That‘s why we always must 

have local forces on site, because we 

can‘t necessarily serve the Chinese market 

with product managers from Germany 

or England, for example. We 

must support the growth of the 

non-ferrous foundries by building up 

appropriate resources. We are continuing 

to strengthen this business, but we 

already have avery strong presence 

there. 

Erger: Foseco’ sstrength is its market 

presence and proximity to our foundry 

customers. It is important that we face 

the changing market requirements and 

globalization together with our customers 

and develop aunique selling proposition 

with innovative and individual 

casting applications in the different segments 

of the foundry industry. 

In which direction are you developing 

your products for Germany in particular? 

Erger: We are facing all the challenges 

that foundries must master. These are, 

for example, the many environmental 

regulations. With our products we are 

therefore trying to contribute to the 

reduction of CO2 emissions. The 

environment and efficiency are key 

issues for the future that we must continue 

to address. 

The German foundry industry will 

emerge stronger from the crisis, you 

say Mr. Erger. Isthe reason for your 

optimism that German foundries are 

more solidly positioned than other 

countries by investing in modernization 

and sustainability? 

Erger: Yes, most foundries have earned 

money in the past, which they are now 

investing in modernization to become 

more efficient. This keeps German 

foundries at the cutting edge of technology. 

Sustainability will certainly also 

be acrucial issue. We have many enquiries 

from foundries about how our products 

can contribute to reducing CO2 

emissions. Overall, we have been focusing 

on sustainability for along time. At 

the last GIFA, it was our main topic. 

Nelissen: Sustainability is becoming 

more and more important. Customers 

from the Scandinavian region also 

already attach importance to acommitment 

to sustainability. This trend is set 

to increase. 

The interview with Heinz Nelissen and 

Hannes Erger was conducted by Robert 

Piterek and Martin Vogt –editorial 

team of GIESSEREI magazine. It 

is published by the German Foundry 

Association BDG as well as CP+T International, 

which is the English language 

sister magazine of GIESSEREI. 

8

Iron Melting 

Conference& 

Exhibition2021 

Saarbrücken, Germany 

September 28 and 29, 2021 

CCS Congress-Centrum Saar 

Topics of the conference: 

Foto: Darius Soschinski/BDG 

Contact and further information: 

VDG Verein Deutscher Giessereifachleute e.V. 

VDG-Akademie 

Christopher Neu 

christopher.neu@vdg-akademie.de 

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Early bird discount until June, 30, 2021 

Official registration deadline: August, 30, 2021.

MACHINING 

An electronically controlled 

coolant supply ensures the 

temperature stabilisation of 

the workpiece and the tool 

and takes care ofswarf 

removal. 

Die casting foundry invests in machining 

Expanding value creation 

in the lockdown 

While the lockdown in Italy saw many companies struggle, atraditional foundry in the 

Italian region of Lombardy used the involuntary break in production to establish a 

mechanical manufacturing facility. Infuture, the rough cast parts will no longer need 

to leave the factory to be finished —instead, they will be finished on-site using two 

Heckert machining centres. 

By Nikolaus Fecht, Gelsenkirchen 

Photos: STARRAG/RALF BAUMGARTEN 

Acompany‘s choice of pictures can 

often tell you something about 

the company itself –and this is 

also the case in Bedizzole, not far from 

Lake Garda. In the conference room of 

Industria Metalli, there is apicture titled 

„Obiettivi“ (goals). The picture 

shows ahiker standing on amountain 

top, gazing at afar-off mountain range. 

The caption also sounds exciting: “Look 

to the future and then look even 

further ahead.” 

While hikers can simply enjoy the 

view, looking ahead is vital for companies 

such as Industria Metalli as its customers 

come from the automotive sector 

–one of the most demanding industries. 

The company specializes in vehicle components, 

from supports and brackets 

through toall manner of housings. With 

ahigh level of vertical integration, each 

year the factory produces more than 

five million cast aluminium parts for 160 

customers around the world using 8,000 

tons of secondary aluminium. The medium-sized 

company from Lombardy 

generates 40 %ofits turnover from the 

automotive industry, around 30 %from 

commercial vehicle manufacturers and 

around another 30 %from agricultural 

technology companies. 

Learning from the automotive 

industry 

During the tour of the large factory 

premises, Fausto Becchetti, Managing 

10

Director and co-owner, explains to us 

that he learned alot from his previous 

work on the automotive sector 

management team at ABB and the process-oriented 

thinking that this required: 

The factory is divided into three 

production cells and follows similar 

principles. All of the production areas 

are connected digitally via amanufacturing 

execution system which controls 

the entire manufacturing process in real 

time. Every production step is carried 

out inaccordance with Toyota‘s Poka- 

Yoke principle, which detects and prevents 

faults. It is supported by aproduction-oriented 

and seamless quality 

assurance system, which is based on the 

strict requirements of IATF 16949 (International 

Automotive Task Force). 

In the factory, the former ABB manager 

proudly points to one of the four 

gas-operated furnaces in the first production 

cell. „The aluminium immediately 

reaches the ideal processing temperature 

of 700 °C, at which point it 

becomes fluid“, explains Becchetti. „The 

next steps are degassing and transport“. 

In the meantime, the manufacturing 

execution system fully automatically 

organizes just-in-time transport 

and assigns adriver via the digital network. 

The forklift truck is located 

nearby and features atablet that 

informs the driver which furnace to collect 

the crucible from and which of the 

16 robot-assisted high-pressure die-casting 

presses in the second production 

cell is waiting for the liquid aluminium. 

Not far from Brescia, the second largest city in Lombardy, Industria Metalli has used the involuntary 

break in production caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to establish amechanical manufacturing 

facility. 

The first step is the 

melting process, 

which heats the 

secondary aluminium 

up to the ideal 

processing temperature 

of700 °C, ready 

for the die-casting 

presses. 

Outsourcing slows down 

the flow of materials 

Like most firms in the industry, the company 

has so far relied on outsourcing: 

After the die casting process, the components 

have anear-net shape and therefore 

have to be taken to anearby 

workshop to be finished. Outsourcing 

INDUSTRIA METALLI SRL, BASED IN BEDIZZOLE 

The foundry has around 100 employees and manufactures components 

weighing between 0.5 and 30.0 kg using the aluminium high-pressure die-casting 

process, all on aproduction area covering approximately the equivalent 

of eight football fields. The product range includes housings for steering systems, 

gears and oil filters, supports, brackets, lighting fixtures and much 

more. The second-generation family-owned company oversees the entire production 

process, from the melting of the secondary aluminium (around 8,000 

tons per year), degassing, high-pressure die-casting, heat treatment, shot-blasting, 

deburring, mechanical processing and assembly, all with ahigh level of 

vertical integration. The quality control process spans the entire company, 

from the incoming goods department with aquality control laboratory that 

analyses aluminium alloys using aspectrometer, to the X-ray machine for 

detecting blowholes and the expensive 3D coordinate measuring machine. 

This „cultura di qualità“ is the result of quality management certificates received 

for compliance with IATF 16949 (International Automotive Task Force) 

and ISO 9001. Due to its sustainable, low-emission production, the company 

has also received ISO 14001 certification. www.industriametalli.it 

leads to an increase inlogistical considerations 

and cost, while quality 

decreases. For example, small air 

pockets known as blowholes can occur 

in cast parts, but these are often not 

detected during X-rays and are only 

picked up during final machining. The 

late detection of these blowholes by 

external companies results in significant 

delays to the production process and 

increases the cost enormously: There is 

no immediate quality check after 

high-pressure die-casting on the 

machine tool. The result: The process 

chain becomes slower and the part has 

to be melted down and poured again. 

These bottlenecks were athorn in the 

former manager‘s side. 

The turning point came with the 

arrival of anew project manager, who 

had worked as amachining specialist in 

the automotive industry and who 

recommended purchasing afive-axis 

Heckert X40 and afour-axis Heckert 

H40 to assist the establishment of a 


MACHINING 

Industri Metalli is using two Heckert 

machining centres to machine simple 

housings for oil filters. The company is 

already machining one in ten of its components 

in its new production cell. 

Short distances, 

lean structures and strict process orientation 

characterise the production process of the cast 

parts producer 

Industria Metalli has closed asignificant 

gap in its production 

process by establishing amechanical 

manufacturing facility with 

afive-axle Heckert X40 (front) 

and afour-axle Heckert H40. 

mechanical manufacturing facility. „We 

ordered the two mashining centres in 

autumn 2019“, explains Becchetti. „Despite 

the lockdown, we decided to go 

through with setting up amechanical 

manufacturing facility as it is an investment 

in the future —even though 

there was no market for our products in 

the spring“. 

Support from Chemnitz 

Thomas Kässner was involved in the process 

right from the start: The Heckert 

Sales Manager speaks fluent Italian and 

also helped with commissioning during 

the lockdown period, which took place 

almost without any delays thanks to 

direct contact with the Starrag plant in 

Chemnitz. The company decided in 

favour of the two machining centres 

because of their robust design, greater 

swarf removal, continuous precision and 

the technological performance buffer. 

All the frame assemblies are deliberately 

rigid, from the machine bed, column and 

table to the rotary swivelling unit. „I am 

particularly pleased about the high and 

consistent machine rigidity as we use 

diamond tools to finish the die-cast 

parts“, says the project manager, clearly 

satisfied with the machining centres. 

„Even at20,000 revolutions per minute, 

the diamond doesn‘t break when it hits 

ablowhole“. 

Diamond tools and 

wet machining 

Minimal-volume lubrication or dry 

machining isgenerally not anoption 

when machining aluminium components. 

The Italian company uses an 

electronically controlled coolant supply, 

which ensures the temperature 

stabilization ofthe workpiece and the 

tool, amongst much more. „Without 

effective wet machining, it would be 

impossible to achieve optimum swarf 

removal“, adds the project manager. 

The removal of the swarf is the linchpin 

ofaclean and rapid process, as 

aluminium swarf will otherwise easily 

12

One of the 16 high-pressure 

die-casting presses that work in 

close collaboration with robots. 

With ahigh level of vertical integration, 

more than five million 

cast aluminium parts are produced 

for 160 customers around 

the world using 8,000 tons of 

secondary aluminium. 

stick to the diamond and scratch or 

impair the cast component. The 

machining expert isparticularly pleased 

with the quality and the very fast 

processing time. „Although many 

components have hard-to-reach areas 

such as holes orpockets, the processing 

time has been reduced by several 

seconds per clamping surface compared 

tothat offered by our service provider, 

as we can run at significantly 

higher cutting speeds“, Becchetti 

reports. „At the same time, wecan 

also achieve top quality“. The two 

Heckert machines are able to achieve 

asurface roughness (Ra) of20µm, 

meaning that nofurther processing is 

required. 

The effort was worthwhile: Industria 

Metalli has begun processing simple 

housings for oil filters. The company is 

already machining one in ten of its components 

in its new production cell. „I am 

optimistic that we will soon be able to 

finish more products using the Heckert 

machining centres and that, thanks to 

the in-house mechanical manufacturing 

facility, wewill also receive orders for 

completely new components“, states 

Becchetti optimistically. „Automation is 

now the next step“. However, the benefits 

are obvious, even without this integration: 

Industria Metalli has considerably 

increased the proportion of value 

added for its components –and with 

better margins too. 

The boss is already looking to 

future, but what are his long-term strategic 

plans? „By establishing amechanical 

manufacturing facility and incorporating 

it into our production system, 

our opportunities to progress to tier 

one, tobecome asystem supplier, have 

increased significantly“, explains the 

Managing Director. “Our products are 

now significantly more competitive in 

comparison to those from many of our 

competitors, who do not have in-house 

machining. The two Heckert machining 

centres represent the first milestone in 

our journey“. 

www.industriametalli.it 

www.starrag.com 


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Issue #3|2021 

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18.-20.01.2022 

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Media 

Information

CASTING TECHNOLOGY 

Photo: ANDREAS BEDNARECK 

Magnesium castings in aGerman die casting foundry. Does the new MAXImolding process offer new perspectives and qualitative advantages 

for the light metal alloys parts? 

Casting with semi-solid melt 

MAXImolding –Magnesium 

alloy injection molding inthe 

digital foundry ofthe future 

By inventing anew metal molding process, anew light metal injection molding machine 

and anew self-learning foundry, Ashley Stone’s vision is to make this industry fit for the 

“green” 21st century. Since 1999, Jacobsen Real-Time X-Ray Machinery of Canada has 

been working to eliminate defects in castings and to do so Ashley Stone combined the 

advantages of Thixomolding and hot and cold chamber high-pressure casting machines 

into the MAXImolding machine and process. 

By Ashley Stone, Toronto, Canada, and Edo Meyer, Siegsdorf, Germany 

The MAXImolding machine is invented 

from scratch and can produce 

light alloy components with less 

than 0.5 %ofporosity. The next step is 

to implement afully automated, self-learning 

light alloy forming cells in which 

the MAXImolding machine works in tandem 

with Automatic Image Recognition 

(ADR) X-ray inspection. The real time 

X-ray feedback via two independent 

loops allows the process to be optimized 

in real time cycle to cycle. 

Thixomolding 

Casting has been carried out according 

to the same principle for more than 

5,000 years. The metal is heated in a 

pot so that it becomes aliquid. It is 

then metered into the mold with a 

16

Figure 1: Illustration of the energy input and shot weight for a430-g motor support block as 

afunction of the process (Dr. Lohmüller, NMF GmbH). 

ladle, where it solidifies. To overcome 

many issues with molten material 

handling anew process was implemented. 

Introduced back in the 1990s, the 

Thixomolding process from Thixomat 

Inc. USA (an offshoot of Dow Chemical 

Company) licensed over 600 machine 

installations worldwide to date. The 

process was based on plastic injection 

molding machines intended to process 

plastic polymers. Since the 1990s, 

machine manufacturers such as HPM 

USA, JSW Japan, and Husky Injection 

Molding Systems, Canada, have been 

producing Thixomolding machines. 

While these Thixomolding machines 

have many process advantages, they 

proved to be very complex and relatively 

expensive to build and maintain. 

At the same time, new and demanding 

tasks and quality requirements regarding 

cast lightweight components have 

been requested from engineers and 

designers over the past decade. 

Anew, vertically oriented, environmentally 

friendly magnesium alloy 

injection molding machine for semi-solid 

melt is invented and is suitable to 

fulfill these tasks. 

The goal is to solve two problems: 

producing lightweight metal alloy parts 

with high integrity and reducing CO 2 

and Green House Gases (GHG) emission 

of hazardous gases to mitigate climate 

change effects in the diecasting industry. 

Thus, the current unsustainable 

approach of casting, inspecting, separating 

good from bad, and finally remelting 

bad parts must change and, therefore, 

significant effect on carbon 

footprint shall be made. 

In order to meet the requirements in 

the area of sustainability, the MAXImolding 

process and machine has been 

developed for magnesium, which is the 

most suitable metal of the future. 

Why magnesium? 

Due tothe continuous quest for weight 

reduction, magnesium alloys offer 

themselves as the most promising materials 

for technological developments. 

Magnesium is the eighth most abundant 

element in the earth‘s crust and 

the fourth most abundant element on 

earth. Magnesium is the lightest of all 

structural metals. Aunique blend of 

> low density, 

> high specific strength, 

> stiffness, 

> high electrical conductivity, 

> high heat dissipation 

Graphics: Dr. Lohmüller, NMF GmbH 

Figure 2: Thixomolding machine (NMF GmbH). 



asafe and rewarding activity promising 

minimal climate impact and great 

growth opportunity. 

Figure 3: MAXImolding operates in the semi-solid temperature range for the AZ91 alloy, which 

is between 480 and 580 °C. The microstructure ofthe alloy has spherical, non-dendritic features 

with 50 %solid content (Dr. Frank Czerwinski). This prevents the formation of defects. 

Casting -Molding -Forging 

Abasic distinction is made between two 

processes for melting light alloy metals: 

> Ingots are processed in amelting 

furnace and then filled into the casting 

chamber as aliquid melt: hot and cold 

chamber die-casting machines dominate 

this ecosystem. 

> Processing and heating of the material 

to asemi-solid mushy melt directly 

in the machine, (cold to cold processing) 

and without an external melting furnace: 

rheo (Rheomolding) and thixo 

(Thixomolding) processes dominate 

here. 

Die-casting is an industrial casting process 

for series or mass production of 

structural parts. Metallic materials or 

light metal alloys with alow melting 

point are generally used for this purpose. 

Among the casting processes for 

magnesium alloy parts, the die-casting 

processes currently dominate. 

Figure 4: Levitation preprocessor using argon to preheat and clean the chips. The use of argon 

reduces costs by up to 80 %. 

> and absorption of vibrations 

makes magnesium an excellent candidate 

to support human activities in 

almost all aspects. 

Combined with ease of processing 

and very easy recycling, magnesium 

alloys may be the material of the 

future. And even unrecycled, MgO 

becomes part of nature over time 

without emitting pollutants. Compared 

to plastics, which have seen tremendous 

growth over the last 50 years, magnesium 

has many qualities to offer. Magnesium 

does not harm humans or animals 

and is readily available. It can be 

recyclable with only 4%ofthe original 

energy of creation, thus contributing to 

the achievement of climate goals. 

If the materials are recycled at the 

end oftheir life cycle, a„credit“ can be 

issued for primary production avoided. 

The credits are particularly high for aluminum 

and magnesium in an assumed 

closed recycling loop. As aresult, net 

emissions change considerably, compared 

with other materials. Magnesium 

now has the lowest emissions over its 

entire life cycle. Polyamide and polypropylene 

have little credit potential, as 

plastics are assumed to be thermally 

recycled with relatively few credits. 

However, inorder to take advantage of 

the many benefits of magnesium, some 

fundamental things in the foundry 

industry need to be reconsidered. For a 

long time, magnesium was regarded by 

Foundrymen as being difficult to 

handle, and the appropriate technology 

for better utilization of magnesium was 

lacking. Today, processing magnesium is 

Cold and hot chamber die-casting 

Cold chamber die-casting is frequently 

used for components with large casting 

weights. Machines with aclamping 

force of between 2000 and 4000 tonns 

are usually used for the production of 

gearboxes or crankcases. The magnesium 

is strongly superheated (> 680 °C) 

in large crucibles (> 500 kg magnesium) 

and supplied with alarge amount of 

energy to melt and maintain temperature. 

When the melt is injected into the 

cold casting chamber, injection rate 

must be very fast due to high thermal 

conductivity of alloy. The turbulence of 

the melt creates gas inclusions. The 

inclusions are detrimental for structural 

integrity of the part. Many discarded 

parts are due to unacceptable inclusions. 

Constant temperature variations 

and long heat history casing formation 

and growth of the dendritic structures 

which can lead to premature casting 

defects. The temperature loss between 

melt in the crucible furnace and the 

metal in the casting chamber can be up 

to 150°C. For highly thermally conductive 

alloy alot can happen in this temperature 

range. 

In hot-chamber die-casting, the casting 

chamber is located directly in the 

crucible and isthus more or less temperature-controlled. 

Pre-solidification 

occurs to amuch lesser extent in the 

area of the nozzle and the gooseneck. 

18

As aresult, the melt does not have to 

be overheated as much (> 630 °C) and it 

is possible to manufacture components 

with smaller wall thicknesses. However, 

due tothe temperature to which the 

casting chamber is permanently subjected, 

the maximum possible casting pressure 

is limited and is only at amaximum 

of 350 bar, which severely restricts the 

component size. In die-casting, the 

gating system and the overflows must 

be adapted to the respective component 

geometry. This leads to relatively 

high material consumption. For 

example, in cold-chamber die-casting, 

the component‘s share of the shot 

weight is often in the range of 40 to 

60 %for compact, thick-walled components. 

In the case of flat, thin-walled 

components, as little as 30 % is 

sometimes achieved. Figure 1shows a 

comparison of the casting processes in 

terms of shot weight and energy 

consumption. 

Both cold and hot chamber processes 

have high-energy losses due to the 

necessary overheating of the melt and 

require environmentally harmful reactive 

gases (mainly R134a: 1300 times the 

global warming potential of CO 2 

or SO 2 

: 

toxic, corrosive) to prevent the melt surface 

from oxidizing. 

Thixomolding 

Another manufacturing technology for 

magnesium castings is Thixomolding. 

Semi-solid metal molding is amolding 

process inwhich amold isfilled with 

partially molten metal in which solid 

particles are homogeneously dispersed 

in the melt. The thixotropic properties 

(e.g. gel liquefies when stirred, thickens 

when at rest) of metal alloys in the 

semi-solid state and semi-solid casting 

were invented by Prof. Merton C. Flemings 

and his colleagues in the 1970s at 

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 

in the USA. The machine technology 

is comparable to plastics injection 

molding. 

The process is characterized by good 

control of the melt temperature, alow 

melt volume, short residence times and 

intensive shearing of the melt. The melt 

can be processed in the semi-solid 

range. At the Bavarian State Research 

Institute Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH, 

Dr. Andreas Lohmüller and his team 

were able to demonstrate advantages 

over conventional die casting processes, 

such as better mechanical properties of 

the castings with lower porosity. Sofar, 

however, the maximum possible solid 

phase content has been limited to 

Figure 5: Processing temperature ofthe MAXImolding process compared to common series 

processes for the alloy AZ91 (Dr. Lohmüller, NMF GmbH). 

about 30 to 40 %. The shot weights are 

limited (maximum 3to4kg), so that 

large thick-walled components could 

not be produced so far. Simple upscaling 

does not seem to be possible at 

present. For material savings, it can be 

assumed that optimized gating systems 

similar to today‘s hot sprue systems, 

Thixomolding with direct injection as 

well as compact components are possible. 

The low temperature favors hot 

runner systems. 

Currently, there are only afew 

manufacturers of Thixomolding injection 

molding machines and the machines 

are very complex. They require 

intensive and very expensive servicing, 

as many complex and moving parts 

come into direct contact with molten 

magnesium (Figure 2). 

Dr. Frank Czerwinski, author of the 

book „Magnesium Injection Molding“ 

published by Springer Verlag, wrote 

that the production of non-dendritic 

structures in the melt is also possible 

under precise heat addition and precise 

temperature control. This is done 

without shearing the melt, which is 

done in an extruder of aThixomolding 

machine. This extruder is also the most 

expensive machine part, as it is made 

of aspecial steel alloy suitable for operation 

at high temperature and pressure. 

However, the screw with the 

non-return valve installed at the front 

is notoriously prone to leakage and 

inconsistent operation. Maintenance of 

these units, which is required after 

only 500,000 cycles, requires the use of 

special removal tools and acleaning 

process that uses an environmentally 

harmful hydrochloric or phosphoric 

acid. This process, while an advance in 

the production of high quality parts, is 

definitely complex and costly to maintain. 

Disadvantages of the extruder in a 

Thixomolding machine: 

> The technology was adopted from 

plastic injection molding and thus is not 

robust enough for metal alloy injection 

molding at high operating temperatures, 

> requires exotic materials to withstand 

magnesium (bushings of Stellite 

12 or special steel No. 1.2888), 

> the cylinder wall thickness cannot be 

increased arbitrarily because external 

heat from heating zones does not penetrate 

into the interior, 

> has acomplex heating and conveying 

distance of over 2.5 m, 

> uses ascrew that has not been heated 

to advance material along the melt 

path, 

> inorder to stop, the screw has to be 

removed for acid cleaning (two additional 

installations necessary to maintain 

the main machine), 

> replacing the screw is very expensive. 

More than 100,000 US-Dollar can 

be expected, 

> maintenance intensive, 

> operation requires alot of training 

and experience. 



The idea 

Let‘s start with the feeding material 

and preparation. For the MAXImolding 

molding process, metal chips are fed to 

alevitation pre-processor for cleaning, 

where they are heated up to 200 °C 

under argon with precise temperature 

control. Oxidation is avoided by flooding 

with argon. The chips are then 

continuously metered into the vertical 

processing cylinders and slowly heated 

from top to bottom. The recirculated 

heat from the mold is used to preheat 

the starting material (chips). The preheated 

Mg chips coming from the pre-processor 

are now further heated in the 

thermal reactor in the form of arevolver 

cylinder. This is done by several heating 

zones placed over the outer wall of 

the cylinder. The semi-solid slurry can 

then be collected in achamber and 

metered under afast acting piston. The 

viscous slurry is then precisely injected 

into the mold via aco-axially located 

injection piston at high pressure (1,000 

bar) and high speed (up to 12 m/s). The 

whole process requires avertical path 

of only 1.5 m, thus reducing the size of 

the entire 50 mlong casting line. This in 

turn makes the process more controllable 

(Figure 4and Figure 6) and totally 

enclosed. 

Figure 6: MAXImolding with chip preparation processor, main reactor and mold with heat 

recovery. 

Can this process be improved even 

further? To find out, one has to look at 

Thixomolding shortcomings. 

MAXImolding 

The question ishow to build anew, simple 

and robust hybrid machine that produces 

virtually defect-free, high-integrity 

parts with minimum energy and 

materials, very quickly and without 

polluting gas emissions. 

The first apparent improvement is 

the vertical orientation of the hybrid 

machine. Gravity makes it easier for 

chips and semi-solid melt to flow from 

top to bottom without changing direction. 

By designing amain reactor with a 

large thermal mass and high-precision 

temperature control in the form of a 

revolver cylinder, the complex and 

high-maintenance parts such as the barrel 

and screw in aThixomolding 

machine are eliminated. On closer 

inspection, the changes are even more 

far-reaching (Figure 3). 

The advantages of MAXImolding 

The first obvious advantage of all 

semi-solid processes is the lower energy 

consumption. When using aMAXImolding 

machine, the gate temperature is 

540 °C, the shot weight is 500 gfor a 

net part of 430 g, and the energy 

consumption is 340 kJ. These are conservative 

assumptions, since energy 

consumption will drop again if ahot 

runner and direct injection are used. In 

comparison, the casting cold chamber 

temperature is 680 °C. Asimilar gating 

system was assumed for hot-chamber 

die casting as for Thixomolding 

(without hot sprue) (~ 30 %). For MAXImolding, 

ahot sprue system (~16 %) 

can beassumed due to the low casting 

temperature (Figures 1, 3 and 5). 

MAXImolding does not require ascrew 

or its rotation. It is not necessary to 

shear the chips to produce asemi-solid 

melt (slurry) containing spherical solid 

particles in the melt. The generation of 

athixotropic slurry can be accomplished 

in athermal mass reactor under the sole 

influence of precisely controlled heat. 

Eliminating the screw for shearing is a 

major simplification of the process 

(Figure 6). 

The process is „solid-to-solid“ molding 

because it starts with solid chips, 

then asemi-solid slurry is produced, and 

it is finally completed with solid nearnet-shape 

parts from the mold. The process 

is completely enclosed. Very little 

argon is used to prevent oxidation of 

chips. The revolver cylinder provides 

plenty of surface area in the material 

contact with cylinders to heat the chips 

quickly. Precise temperature control of 

the outside surface of the processing 

cylinder allows the inside of the co-axially 

placed cylinders, including the injection 

piston (in the center), to be heated 

at the same time with temperature precision 

of a+/- 1°C. Precise temperature 

control of the piston and the cylinder 

allows for accurate piston and cylinder 

20

Table 1: MAXImolding has many advantages over die-casting and Thixomolding. 

Item Die-Casting Thixomolding MAXImolding 

Hot-Chamber Cold -chamber 

Molding temp.(°C) 630~650 590~610 590~610 480~580 

Injection speed (m/s) 1~4 1~4 1~4 1~12 

Injection pressure(kgf/cm²) 250~350 500~1200 500~1200 500~1200 

Material 

Ingot directinmachine 

at 650°C 

Ingot in melting pot at 

ca. 700°C 

Chip directinmachine Pre-processor takes 

feedstock chips and 

de-contaminate, 

degrease,dry andpreheat 

them uniformly to 

max. 200°C and doses 

them in machine 

Projectareaatsame clamping 

force 

Large Medium Medium Larger because of 

directinjection 

Max. machine size 900t 1000t 1000t 5.000t +, limited by 

press tonnage only; 

multi-injectorusage 

Blowhole Small Few Few Few 

Surfacedefect Small Few Few Few+ 

Shrinkage crack Small Few Few Few+ 

Fluidity Good Excellent Excellent Excellent++ 

Surfaceroughness Good Excellent Excellent Excellent 

Flash Few Small Small Small+ 

Shrinkage Small Few Few Few+ 

Mold shrinkage Dimension accuracy 

5~5.5/1000 

Good 

3.8~4.5/1000 Excellent 3.8~4.5/1000 Excellent 3.8~4.5/1000 Excellent 

Warp Small Few Few Few 

Mechanical properties Good Excellent Excellent Excellent++ 

Shot cycle 0.8 0.9 1(Standard) 0.8 

Material cost 0.85 0.9 1(Standard) 1 

Material shot weightfor same net 1.1 1.6 1(Standard) 0.8 

partweight 

Die‘slife 0.9 0.8 1(Standard) 1.2 

Safe operation Good Poor Excellent Excellent+ 

Protection gas SF6, SO2 SF6,SO2 Ar Ar 

Dross/Sludge Much Much Nothing Nothing 

tolerance being maintained over processing 

time. This is all possible due to 

ingenious symmetrical and co-axial 

nature of the processing cylinders. 

The maintenance of the MAXImolding 

system is simple. This is because no 

material can settle on the smooth inner 

cylinder sacrificial surface, and the 

semi-solid slurry is completely contained 

within the MAXImolding machine. A 

major advantage over other die casting 

processes isachieved by eliminating the 

need for aseparate furnace and pot to 

generate and hold the melt. Everything 

is done in the same machine within a 

fast cycle of 14 to 60 seconds. Mold cooling 

is accomplished by an enclosed 

water mist system (80 %air, 20% 

water) circulating at very high cooling 

rates directly under the mold surface. 

The water air generation in enclosed 

cooling channels absorbs alarge 

amount of the heat. Evaporative heat 

absorbed from the solidifying part is in 

turn used to preheat the incoming magnesium 

chips. This leads to further considerable 

process energy savings. 

The development of the Maximolding 

machine opens up completely new 

possibilities for the production of lightweight 

components without dangerous 

gas emissions. First from magnesium 

and later also from aluminum. As a 

result, climate targets are met and users 

of the machine can trade CO 2 

certificates. 

No other machine can produce 

large, thin-walled parts with athickness 

of 1mmfrom standard or special alloys. 

The same applies to large thick-walled 

parts of up to 10 or even 20 kg in very 

good quality. Table 1 summarizes the 

main differences between the processes. 

The next step: smart factory 

Optimizing the semi-solid molding/casting 

process is only one step of the system 

innovation. The goal is aholistic 

solution. The smart factory is at the 

heart of Industry 4.0. The term smart 

factory essentially refers to networked 

adaptive production systems connected 

to value-adding networks. Operators of 

the machine benefit primarily from the 

rapid dissemination and use of data. In 

this context, both real-time capable networks 

and scalability are important fac- 



Figure 7: Schematic of light 

alloy wheels self-learning 

smart factory incorporating 

MAXImolding machine with 

feed back x-ray control loop 

incl. ADR software and 

knowledge system for data 

analyzing and prediction of 

process parameters 

tors to ensure the exchange of information 

between the participating devices. 

Any user can operate aMAXImolding 

process anywhere in the world and realize 

best parts possible. The objective is 

to apply these aspects to the casting cell 

and thus create safe and autonomous 

production. Figure 7shows the approach 

ofanintelligent production chain 

for discrete production. Foundries are 

being transformed into part production 

cells with unique supply chain and process 

optimization network. 

The entire production process for a 

light alloy wheel could look something 

like this: the operator selects the part to 

be molded from a3-D database and 

supplies power to the MAXImolding 

injection molding machine. Achecklist 

is followed with regard to material supply 

and safety checks, and then the 

machine isstarted. The MAXImolding 

machine suggests the startup process 

parameters and sets them. The machine 

operator confirms proposed parameters 

or set owns. Casting of the first wheel 

begins. After completion, the wheel is 

immediately inspected on the X-ray 

inspection system with Automatic 

Defect Recognition (ADR). This determines 

the quality of the wheel and generates 

adigital identifier that can be 

used to identify the part. If the part 

produced is found to be good, the associated 

process parameters are stored in 

adatabase and marked as „good.“ 

Parameters of the defective products 

are also stored so that faster iterative 

adjustments to process parameters can 

be made from them. For example, 

inspection might show that the wheel 

was not fully formed, indicating insufficient 

starting material and commonly 

referred to as ashort shot. The system 

recognizes that alonger injection time 

is needed and iteratively instructs the 

parameter generator to delay closing 

the nozzle. The next machine cycle is 

22

executed, serialized and passed to the 

inspection system. 

By continuously cycling data from an 

inspection system and accelerating the 

convergence of good and bad data sets, 

the cast wheel can be progressively 

improved over the digital 3-D model. 

Production with integrated X-ray feedback 

control loop and machine learning 

algorithm enables fully automated production 

of wheels with high integrity 

and minimal scrap. 

The global cloud 

As many of today‘s products are developing 

at an ever-faster pace, production 

must be continuously adapted accordingly. 

Topermanently shorten innovations 

and product cycles, companies 

must be able to act flexibly. One promising 

step along this path could be to 

identify the respective network production 

capacities across companies globally. 

By networking production facilities 

across companies, it is possible to respond 

flexibly to fluctuating market conditions 

or order situations. Such smart 

factories integrated into an ecosystem 

also ensure particularly efficient utilization, 

which can reduce costs and promote 

more resource-efficient production. 

Company Ashares its own spare 

capacity with Company B, which is operating 

at full capacity. IfCompany B 

takes advantage of the offer, itwill not 

only temporarily expand its own production 

facilities, but also allow Company 

Atobetter utilize its capacity. This 

allows both companies tokeep order 

fluctuations to aminimum. In addition, 

maintenance procedures based on the 

evaluation of process and machine data 

can also be carried out proactively. 

The MAXImolding factory ensures 

fast piece production of good parts and 

provides stable and automatic process 

control. The factory consists only of proprietary 

machines such as robotics and 

vision systems based on unified factory 

software from COPA-DATA. COPA-DATA 

is an independent software manufacturer 

that combines in-depth experience 

in automation with the new possibilities 

of digital transformation. Via acloud, 

process data is collected for the same or 

similar parts worldwide. And anyone 

can use it to improve their magnesium 

molding processes. 

Conclusion 

The product features, and freedom 

from deficiencies are two feature that 

make money. MAXImolding and its 

integration into aholistic solution is a 

pioneering process in the field of production 

defect prevention. The ambition 

is to resolve core problem of the 

customer. The production process is to 

be optimized and the generation of 

errors is to be avoided. 

The focus is not on the output itself, 

but on the process that achieves the 

output. The production of almost 

defect-free parts is made possible by 

combining amolding/casting machine 

with anX-ray system. 

Knowledge from the field of X-ray 

technology combined with high-pressure 

die-casting and metal alloy injection 

molding will result in anew generation 

of metal alloy injection molding 

machines. It is possible to mass-produce 

moldings/castings that are virtually free 

of defects, and the path from the 

virtual 3-D part to the finished casting 

with matching alloy is short. There is no 

comparable holistic system on the market 

yet. The magnesium-molding factory 

is safe, energy efficient and 

environmentally friendly with no emission 

of gases outside the factory parameters. 

All injection molding machines 

and X-ray inspection machines, as well 

as proprietary linear robotics and vision 

systems integrated into this semi-solid 

molding process, ensure the fast production 

of good parts and provide stable 

closed-loop automatic process control. 

For further progress, the mindset 

should be changed. Not only machines 

and products can be exported, but holistic 

and intelligent factories integrated 

into aglobal ecosystem. An ecosystem 

that continuously improves itself, thereby 

reducing surplus and emissions and 

leading to more profit for all stakeholders 

-amodern digital business model 

that is attractive and pays off for all stakeholders. 

www.maxi-molding.com 

Ashley Stone of Toronto is an inventor 

working inthe field of industrial X-ray 

inspection and mechanical engineering 

for over 40 years. Edo Meyer is an 

industrial psychologist doing doctoral 

research at the University of Vienna. He 

has been cooperating with Jacobsen 

X-Ray inCanada for more than 15 years 

to create environmentally friendly casting 

factories and is Managing Director 

of MAXImolding! Technology GmbH in 

Siegsdorf, Germany. 

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SIMULATION 

Virtual Design of Experiments 

Fonderie Mario Mazzucconi S.p.A. in 

Ponte San Pietro. 

Optimizing the service life 

of die casting tools 

Tool life is one of the main cost factors in high pressure die casting. The Italian foundry 

Mazzucconi used the capabilities of virtual Design of Experiments inMagmasoft to substantially 

increase the die life for asteering housing. 

By Andreas Heitmann, Aachen, Germany, and Mechele Zanni and Daniele Bianchi, Ponte San Pietro, Italy 

Photo: mazzucchoni 

Unfortunately, the die of acast 

part that had been produced for 

along time fell short of the 

expected tool life. Changes to the casting 

geometry were not an option due 

to the existing design freeze. Therefore, 

the aim of the project was to identify 

the main influencing factors on tool life 

in the process and adjust the casting 

process accordingly. One of the major 

influencing factors on tool life are thermo-mechanical 

stresses in the die surface 

and the associated die erosion. 

These stresses are caused by temperature 

changes during the casting cycle. 

Mazzucconi decided to investigate the 

following parameters: 

> Distance between temperature control 

channels and die surface 

> Diameters of the temperature control 

channels 

> Temperature of the temperature 

control medium 

> Casting temperature 

> Spraying process 

For each of the five parameters, aseparate 

systematic set-up using the in-build 

Design of Experiment (DoE) was done. 

The foundry used Magmasoft and Magmadielife 

to estimate the die life for 

their process. To minimize the simulation 

effort, asubstitute geometry was 

used that had characteristics similar to 

the original casting (Figure 1). 

First, the status quo of the existing 

process was simulated and then compared 

to the real damage in the die. 

Figure 2shows the tool cracks already 

visible on the casting and the result of 

the lifetime estimation. 

For the DoE used to analyze the distance 

between temperature control 

channel and die surface, in addition to 

the initial situation, three variations 

with the distances 3d, 5d and 7d were 

defined. In addition, avariant with 

deactivated die temperature control 

was simulated. 

The results reveal that the tool life 

decreases with increasing distance between 

cooling channel and die surface 

24

a 

b 

Figure 1: Real casting and substitute model for the 

designs of experiments. 

(Figure 3). For the investigated variants, 

Figure 4shows the temperature history 

at one point of the die surface. With 

increasing distance between cooling 

channel and die surface, the temperature 

of the surface increases at the 

beginning of the spraying process. Due 

to the higher die temperature, the 

spraying process generates ahigher 

temperature gradient, which results in 

higher residual tensile stresses in the die 

surface. 

However, the compressive stress at 

the beginning of solidification hardly 

changes. In contrast, the stress amplitude 

between the tensile stresses 

(during spraying) and the compressive 

stresses (during filling/solidification) 

increases with increasing distance between 

cooling line and die surface. This 

results in an increased load and a 

decrease of the tool life. 

For the other process variables, corresponding 

virtual Designs of Experiments 

were conducted, too. These led 

to the following fundamental insights: 

In the area analyzed, the diameter 

of the cooling channels has no influence 

on the tool life. Explanation: The 

average die temperature does not 

change, resulting in the maximum stresses 

both during spraying and during filling/solidification 

not changing either. 

The temperature of the cooling 

medium has aconsiderable influence on 

the tool life. This effect can be explained 

by the fact that the die is on 

average colder with colder cooling 

a 

b 

Figure 2: Visible tool cracks on the casting (left) compared to the simulation result ‚ 

Die Lifetime‘ (right). 

Figure 3: Influence of the distance between cooling channel and die surface on the die life. 


SIMULATION 

Figure 4: Temperature history at point 6for different cooling channel distances to the 

die surface. 

agents. This, in turn, leads to areduced 

thermal shock during spraying and, 

thus, to lower tensile stresses. The temperature 

increase of the die surface 

during filling/solidification, however, 

remains approximately the same, which 

means that the level of compressive 

stresses is also almost identical. Overall, 

the stress range decreases with lower 

cooling agent temperature (Figure 5). 

Reducing the pouring temperature 

minimizes both the tensile stresses 

during spraying and the compressive 

stresses during filling/solidification, thus 

increasing the tool life. This can be explained 

as follows: Reducing the casting 

temperature leads to areduction of the 

average die temperature. This results in 

asmaller thermal shock during spraying. 

Likewise, the temperature gradient 

during filling/solidification is also 

reduced due to the colder melt. 

The variation of spraying, in turn has 

shown that intermittent spraying of 

smaller amounts causes smaller tensile 

stresses in the die surface than one 

single, intense spray stroke. 

Figure 5: Stress curves for point 6when varying the cooling channel temperature. 

a 

b 

The different investigations show that 

the layout of the spraying process has 

the greatest influence on the die 

lifetime. The aim must therefore be to 

keep the thermal shock during spraying 

as small as possible. On this basis, new 

process parameters were defined for 

the series part: 

> Wherever possible, cooling channels 

are placed closer to the surface to 

thus minimize the surface temperature 

before spraying. 

> The cooling channel temperature is 

reduced. 

> The pouring temperature is reduced 

as far aspossible. 

> The spraying process is changed to 

intermittent spraying (with several 

smaller spray strokes). 

> Atthe same time, the process was 

switched to water-free spraying. 

Figure 6: Lifetime estimation for original and optimized production parameters (left and right 

respectively). 

FONDERIE MAZZUCONI 

The Italian foundry produces aluminum alloy components, casted in gravity, 

low-pressure or high-pressure die casting, as well as fully machined and assembled 

components. For over more than acentury, Mazzucconi has been active in the 

field of metal castings and machining. The foundry is located in Ponte San Pietro 

(Bergamo) and has seven production facilities located in Italy plus alocal office in 

Munich, Germany. 

In the simulation with Magmasoft, the 

verification of the new process conditions 

revealed aconsiderably higher die 

lifetime (Figure 6). This was confirmed 

in the series production with new tools. 

www.magmasoft.de 

www.mazzucconi.com 

Andreas Heitmann, Application Technology, 

Magma Gießereitechnologie 

GmbH, Aachen, Germany, Mechele 

Zanni und Daniele Bianchi, Process 

Simulation, Fonderie Mario Mazzucconi 

S.p.A., Ponte San Pietro, Italy. 

26

AUTOMATION 

PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS: AUGUST MÖSSNER 

Parts handling when cutting casting systems with aband saw machine. 

Pre-Machining 

From casting tocleaning 

in 60 seconds 

A60second cycle is made possible byacompact production line from August Mössner 

GmbH +CoKG, which isused to turn raw castings into pre-machined and cleaned workpieces. 

Arobot processing cell makes it possible. 

by Dietmar Schmid and Christian Kunz, Eschach 

Chassis are complex multi-part constructions. 

Fully automated casting 

finishing is achallenge in 

terms of cycle time, flexibility and 

robustness. The most important machines 

are ten heavy-duty robots, four 

decoring machines, four band saw 

machines and eight tool spindles. 

Coming from the casting plant, the 

cast blanks are fed into the machine via 

rotary tables. Loading can be carried 

out manually or with arobot. The finished 

and partially processed workpieces 

are discharged by two belt conveyors. 

The processing cell is divided into cell 

areas for 

> Decoring, 

> Separation of the steel filters and 

casting systems 

> Removal of dividing burrs and 

machining of internal feeders 

(Figure 1). 

The subdivision into cell areas with 

transfer points and turntables enables 

specific supply of operating materials, 

such as lubricants and cutting materials, 

sorted disposal and separation of recycling 

material, sand, chips and process-specific 

exhaust air. 

In addition, the subdivision into partial 

cells and the complete enclosure 

with sound insulation walls ensures low 

noise pollution. In the decoring area, 

the additional enclosure reduces sand 

emission into the environment. 

The ten robots are used on the one 

hand to transport parts and on the 

other hand for workpiece processing in 

the machining stations. The system is 

controlled by several, locally distributed 

control systems. In chaotic throughput, 


AUTOMATION 

Figure 1: Layout of atwin processing cell. 

four types of „nodes“ and four types of 

„cross members“ can beprocessed. 

For part identification, DataMatrix 

codes on the castings are recorded by 

camera systems. Depending on this, the 

part and task-specific machining and 

handling processes are activated. 

The transfer of parts from one cell 

to the next takes place at transfer 

rotary tables: The robot in one cell 

deposits the casting on one half of the 

turntable. After the turntable has 

turned 180 degrees, the robot of the 

next cell takes over the workpiece. For 

machining on all sides, the workpieces 

are oriented by the 5th and 6th robot 

axis. Furthermore, the parts can be gripped 

byrotating workpiece supports. 

With the help of cameras, the production 

progress is monitored, and 

errors are detected. Alarge number of 

individual sensors record –among other 

things –the presence and positions of 

the parts in the grippers and holding 

fixtures. Process temperatures on workpieces 

and tools as well as clamping 

forces and vibrations are controlled. 

The aluminium chassis parts (Figure 2) 

with afinal weight of approx. 17 kg 

come from the casting machine into the 

plant with atemperature of 80 °C and a 

weight of 40 kg. They are decored in 

the cell and release about 10 kg sand 

per part. The casting system to be separated 

with feeders and steel filters 

weighs about 12 kg per part. Sand, casting 

system parts, steel filters and chips 

are automatically conveyed out of the 

cell (Figure 3). Underfloor vibratory conveyors 

are used for the sands and chips, 

while chutes and belt conveyors are 

used for the casting systems. 

Decoring 

The parts, which come from the casting 

process, initially still have solid cores. 

During decoring, the sand cores are 

emptied from the cavities of the castings. 

Pneumatic hammers (Figure 4) 

break the sand cores by impact energy. 

The broken sand cores are then crushed 

Figure 2: Example Crossmember. 

by high-frequency vibration. This is 

done by crushing and breaking up the 

sand lumps on the casting walls. The 

removal of the molding sand is achieved 

by vibrating and rotating the castings. 

The rotation unit brings the casting 

into an ideal position for emptying. 

The optional blowing out of the casting 

with compressed air keeps any sand 

residues low. All this is achieved by the 

Mössner 3-in-1 decoring unit. It combines 

the process steps of hammering, 

vibrating and turning in one machine. 

Sand therefore only accumulates at one 

point. Sand carry-over is avoided. All 

three process steps require only one 

loading and unloading process. 

The design ofthe 3in1decoring 

unit is deliberately without elaborate 

gears for turning and vibrating. This 

solution makes the machine extremely 

robust and reduces the susceptibility to 

errors. Gearbox solutions are expensive 

when it comes to the procurement of 

spare parts and, in the event of failure, 

lead to longer plant downtimes. 

Parts handling is carried out with 

heavy-duty robots and special gripping 

systems. The decoring machines are 

mounted on air dampers to reduce 

noise and vibration. In addition, various 

noise and vibration damping measures 

are taken. During the decoring process, 

28

Figure 3: Separate discharge of core sand, chips and casting system parts . 

Figure 4: View into the decoring machine. 

the soundproof cabin is closed with a 

soundproof dust protection door. After 

decoring, the castings are transferred to 

the processing areas by arobot. 

Processing 

All machining processes are carried out 

by handling the workpieces or tools 

with heavy-duty robots. The work processes 

include: 

> Separating the steel filters, 

> Sawing off the casting systems, 

> Machining of internal feeders, 

> Deburring. 

Figure 5: General layout 

finishing line for crossmember and nodes. 

The steel filters are separated with circular 

saw cuts. The casting systems, 

including the feeders, are separated 

with band saw machines. Steel filters 

and pouring systems fall onto conveyor 

belts for disposal via chutes. Vibratory 

conveyors transport the chips under the 

floor to the outside. For cleaning, the 

castings are rotated and turned over on 

air nozzles by robots in cleaning chambers. 

Removal of dividing burrs is performed 

bythe tool-guided processing cells. 

The robots handle the machining spindles 

and remove the burrs on the mold 

parting. Compared to hydraulic deburring 

presses, this solution offers advantages 

interms of flexibility and reduced 

tool costs. If changes to castings are 

pending, only the programmed machining 

paths of the robots need to be corrected. 

The costs for this are significantly 

lower than, for example, changes 

to apress tool. 

Internal feeders and casting systems 

that cannot be removed by sawing are 

machined within the production line. 

For this purpose, the robot moves the 

workpiece along fixed milling spindles. 

Compared to sawing, milling causes 

arelatively high metal removal volume 

and requires correspondingly high 

metal removal rates. Compared to 

machining in amachining centre, robot 

machining is the cheaper and more flexible 

alternative. It does not require 

additional transport, loading and clamping 

operations. 

Finally, the robots place the nodes 

and crossmembers on the outfeed belts 

for transport. 

Summary 

This production line (Figure 5) eliminates 

the heavy and very stressful manual 

work of fettling castings. The chassis 

parts are processed fully automatically 

with short cycle times in achaotic 

sequence of parts. The division of the 

production line into cell areas ensures 

that the recycled materials and exhaust 

air are separated accordingly. Atthe 

same time, this structure -with cell 

areas replacing each other -enables an 

emergency operation with reduced output 

in the event of acell failure. Dividing 

the processing cell into cell areas 

allows the entire system to be implemented 

in individual expansion stages. 

In six phases, for example, the described 

cell may be expanded from abasic configuration. 

It is flexible and thus suitable 

for avariety of different workpieces 

and production capacities. 

Flexibility of production systems is 

more important than ever, especially in 

times of unclear quantity forecasts. 

Mössner meets this requirement with its 

modular system concepts. Foundries are 

thus able to make the necessary investments 

in line with the respective quantity 

phase. 

www.moessner-kg.de 

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dietmar Schmid und M. 

Eng. Christian Kunz, August Mössner 

GmbH +Co. KG, Eschach. 


GRINDING 

Superabrasives for the foundry industry 

Cool grinding for more 

parts per wheel 

How can foundries increase their productivity and product quality aswell as the safety 

of their employees? Asuitable tool isthe new Foundry Xelectroplated single-layer 

grinding wheel from Norton Winter, the premium brand from Saint-Gobain Abrasives. 

by Andreas Eckhard, Norderstedt 

Photos: SAINT-GOBAIN ABRASIVES 

Compared with existing electroplated 

tools on the market, Foundry 

Xsteps things up agear in terms 

of performance, durability and safety 

during cast product machining thanks 

to aspecial new electroplated bond 

technology which allows foundries to 

cut costs per approved part considerably. 

Futhermore, Foundry Xalso offers a 

reason for foundries to switch from 

standard electroplated tools and particularly 

from conventionally bonded 

abrasives to diamond and CBN grinding 

tools. 

Increasing productivity –reducing 

dust exposure 

Modernization is akey trend inthe 

foundry segment. New CNC- and 

robot-assisted systems, which appeal to 

foundries of all sizes, come with the 

promise of extra production output 

and arapid ROI. At the same time, 

demand for higher-quality cast and 

ductile iron is growing. “In light of this, 

foundries are focusing partly on 

making their production systems more 

environmentally friendly and improving 

their efficiency in the process. With 

Foundry Xattheir disposal, these two 

objectives are not mutually exclusive. 

For example, switching from conventio- 

30

nally bonded wheels to Foundry Xdiamond 

and CBN abrasives not only 

increases productivity and quality but 

also cuts down on dust by as much as 

90 %”, says Andreas Eckhardt, product 

manager at Norton Winter. 

Service life, quality and 

consistency 

An electroplated grinding wheel consists 

of asteel body with asingle layer of diamond 

or CBN. The grains are embedded 

in aspecial nickel bond. This gives users 

agrinding wheel with astable diameter 

and profile. That means that there is no 

need to make diameter adjustments in 

the machine software during series production. 

The main body can be re-used 

many times, provided that it is not 

damaged. The wheel can then be used 

until there is no protruding grain left. 

The new line of Norton Winter 

Foundry Xelectroplated single-layer 

grinding wheels, featuring an extremely 

hard and yet ductile nickel bond coupled 

with high-quality special diamond 

and CBN grains, have been developed to 

prevent heat and load problems from 

being factors limiting productivity and 

quality in grinding and cutting work. 

For that purpose, Norton Winter has 

equipped Foundry Xwith high-quality 

special diamond and CBN grains arranged 

inhigh concentrations bonded to 

the high-grade steel main body by the 

nickel electroplating. This enables the 

grain toprotrude more than on wheels 

with multiple layers. The special new 

electroplating technology also ensures 

excellent grain retention, which leads 

to anoticeable reduction in wear in 

applications on CNC-controlled machining 

equipment as well as in robot guided 

applications and manual processes. 

Automated cell grinding is one 

example. Foundry Xtruly shines in this 

department, with along service life, 

reduced wheel changes and minimized 

downtime, with consistent wheel 

dimensions and minimal wear. Its precise 

geometry reduces vibrations, while the 

unchanging wheel dimensions allow for 

faster and easier programming. 

As Eckhardt explains, “Foundry X 

combines unique grain quality and 

maximum grain concentration in the 

wear zone and offers better homogeneity 

in comparison with other coated 

wheels. Grain quality is selected depending 

on component material. The grain 

size can also be adjusted to suit the 

application. Foundry Xcan maintain the 

expected tolerances depending on the 

grain size and offers excellent diameter 

and profile stability as well as profile 

tolerances of 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm.” 

Thanks to the design benefits and 

the ability to make minute adjustments 

to the tool in line with the specific 

application, manufacturers can cut and 

grind at lower temperatures and 

improve their material removal rates. 

Foundry Xsuperabrasives last for longer 

thanks to their wear resistance. According 

to Andreas Eckhardt, “they offer 

the longest service life per wheel on the 

market compared with directly coated 

standard wheels. That means more grinding 

between wheel changes and also 

Foundry Xoffers 

impressive performance, 

durability 

and safety during 

cast product machining 

thanks to a 

special new electroplated 

bond technology. 

The grinding wheels 

are available in a 

range of sizes and 

profile shapes to 

meet specific 

requirements for 

grinding various 

cast materials. 

reduced downtime. Consequently, 

depending on the application, using a 

Foundry Xwheel can allow you to 

machine up to 50 %more parts”. 

This is underlined by aNorton Winter 

case study entitled “Rough machining 

grey cast iron: Foundry Xvsstandard 

electroplated wheel with agrain 

size of D851”. With parameters of a 

hardness of 67 HRC, material removal of 

3mm, wheel speed of 50 m/s and feed 

rate of3mm/s, the Foundry Xtool 

manufactured 40 %more workpieces 

per wheel. 

In cutting processes for machining a 

brake calliper from tempered grey cast 

iron (67 HRC) in aMaus robotic cell, 

Foundry Xachieved aservice life 30 % 

longer than aconventional superabrasive 

available on the market. Furthermore, 

it did so with better chip clearance, 

astraight cut and fewer rejects. 

Safety for employees 

The switch from conventional grinding 

wheels to diamond and CBN wheels in 

foundries offers significant potential for 

improvements in safety and environmental 

aspects. The steel bodies of the 

diamond and CBN grinding wheels prevent 

the risk of the wheels breaking 

during use. Much less dust is produced 

than with conventional abrasives and 

the odour that is typically emitted 

during grinding in foundries is almost 

entirely eliminated. 

All Foundry Xwheels are manufactured 

to suit user requirements. They 

are available in arange of sizes and 

profile shapes to meet specific requirements 

for grinding various cast materials. 

Arange of special shapes can also 

be created. 

www.nortonabrasives.com/de-de 

Andreas Eckhardt, Product Manager 

Direct Plated Products, Superabrasives 

EMEA, Saint-Gobain Diamantwerkzeuge 

GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany 



Site Analysis 

The digital foundry – 

wishful thinking or amodel 

for the future? 

Networking in foundries increases. 

But autonomous production is not the 

aim of application-related science. 

“Humans should always decide 

whether to adjust ascrew or not.“ 

The foundry industry is abuzz about the digital transformation. New technical solutions 

promise to optimize foundry processes and bring long-term competitive advantages. But 

to what extent have digital production technologies so far taken over the works halls of 

German and Swiss foundries, and what potentials do scientists think they will bring? 

Some practical evaluation follows. 

BY Robert Piterek, Düsseldorf 

Photo: Fotolia 

The interest that the word ‘digitalization’ 

awakens in the foundry 

industry is greater than ever 

before. The networking of plant technology 

and the acquisition of data –with 

the opportunities they provide –have 

been exciting ever-greater circles in the 

industry for more than adecade now. 

Whereby the digital transformation is 

seen as amagic formula for enhancing 

competitiveness through optimized lean 

processes, the costs of which –for 

example, energy and resources, CO 2 

emissions, maintenance, procurement 

and quality assurance –can be massively 

reduced using digital methods. 

So much for the theory. But to what 

extent has this future project progressed 

in the foundry industry? Let’s take a 

look at the figures first, before we examine 

the everyday operations of German 

foundries. 

SMEs are taking their first steps 

At aworkshop organized by Germany’s 

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs 

and Energy on the future technologies 

of suppliers, Dr. Kai Kerber (Manager of 

Smart Foundry Solutions at Oskar Frech) 

recently showed that, based on data 

obtained from asurvey of SMEs, companies 

are still at the start of along journey. 

Onascale of 1to6(where Step 1 is 

computerization, 2isconnectivity, 3is 

visualization, 4istransparency, 5is predictive 

capability, and 6isadaptability), 

almost two-thirds of companies are still 

struggling with the first two digitization 

steps. 

32

Digitalization actually only becomes interesting from Step 

3onwards, when production processes obtain visualization 

capability via data analyzes –and, to be fair, every fifth SME 

is already at this level. Digitalization adds aholistic process 

understanding at Step 4. Companies can then capture a 

wealth of data at Step 5, when faults can be predicted and 

prevented before they occur. Step 6involves self-optimizing 

systems that could ultimately enable autonomous production 

in foundries. 

‘Unmanned’ autonomous processes appear attractive for 

reasons of cost but also creates unease: “The aim is to make 

better decisions quicker, and not establish autonomous production 

in the foundry,” stresses Prof. Dierk Hartmann from 

Kempten University of Applied Sciences in southern Germany, 

apioneer in research on digitalization in foundries. It 

is his clear opinion that ultimately aperson should always 

decide “whether to adjust ascrew or not”. An opinion that 

he voiced in an interview onthe state of digitalization-related 

research and development which appeared in May 2021. 

All the same, initial applications of this type have been in 

operation in the industry for some time now, for example in 

the form of autonomous transport systems at the Smart 

Foundry in Hasloch; or avirtual assistant in the latest die-casting 

plants from Oskar Frech –which makes autonomous corrections 

of tolerance deviations during production or a 

warehouse whose ERP system enables ‘chaotic’ organization. 

These, however, are only individual aspects. There is not (yet) 

an algorithm that can autonomously carry out production as 

awhole. What do exist are noteworthy developments in the 

sector, and they show that the foundry industry is on the 

path towards digitalization and is already profiting from it. 

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The digital administration 

Thus, for example, automated administration is an early digitalization 

step with major effects. Christen Guss in Bergdietikon 

(in the Baden district of Aargau canton in Switzerland) 

already took this step several years ago: invoices are scanned, 

compared with customer data, and automatically booked. 

Accounting costs quickly halved, while balance sheets and 

income statements are now updated in real-time, massively 

improving the overview of business activities –regularly 

consulted by Elon Musk fan, Florian Christen, for advice. “We 

want to act, not react,” says the businessman. Christen therefore 

rates digitalization highly (CP+T reported on this in Issue 

4/2017, from p. 30). Automated administration is active all 

the way down to procurement. 

The use of probes at Karl Casper Guss in Remchingen 

makes the consumption of resin and sand so transparent that 

the ordering of auxiliary and operating materials is now largely 

automated. Customers also profit from minute-by-minute 

transparency regarding their orders. Customers sending 

regular delivery forecasts can obtain their castings just one 

day after making the actual order. Online presentations, e.g. 

by Florian Christen, are also being worked on –one day he 

wants to automatically offer potential customers an expected 

price when they upload their CAD data. Acloud-based 

raw materials platform developed by Profs. Hartmann and 

Gottschling (with Lohmann Guss, among others) already 

works somewhat similarly: the most reasonably priced offer 

is displayed on the basis of aso-called simplex algorithm. 

Profs. Gottschling and Hartmann have significantly shaped 

research into digitalization in the foundry industry. Prof. 

Gottschling teaches mathematics for engineers at the University 

of Duisburg-Essen. 

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Administrative optimizations have 

meanwhile taken place at well over 

two-thirds of SMEs, according to Kerber’s 

figures. 

Optimizing the charging process 

The optimization of production processes 

using digital methods can take place 

in many forms and affect processes 

throughout the entire production cycle. 

In 2018, fittings caster Düker in Laufach 

introduced new process control technology 

that uses the JOKS-Gatt system, 

enormously simplifying charging –and 

leading to savings in energy and 

resource consumption. The technology 

is monitored from the control center of 

the magnetic crane. First, arecipe is 

input. Then the magnetic crane drives 

from metal bay to metal bay picking up 

the defined amount of scrap or ingots 

and dropping them into the vibrating 

chute, whereby the required charging 

quantity is counted down –asifina 

video game. The crane operator therefore 

has the charging process under 

control atall times. Quality assurance 

takes place using aspark emission spectrometer 

connected to the JOKS-Gatt 

system. The company’s technical 

management carried out the 100,000 

euro investment not only to optimize 

charging but, with numerous linked 

process parameters, also considered it 

an important step towards digitalization. 

This is in harmony with modern research: 

“For every need in foundries or 

the process industry we want to control 

optimized processes on the basis of 

data to obtain more information on 

how toachieve optimizations,” Prof. 

Johannes Gottschling defines the aims 

of application-oriented science. 

Optimizing sand preparation 

Another example of adigitally optimized 

process is the Qualimaster AT1from 

Eirich, which optimizes sand preparation 

and is used as part of the new HWS 

III Hybrid molding plant at Ohm & 

Häner in Olpe. After mixing, the device 

measures the gas permeability, springback, 

and plasticity of the sand chargeby-charge. 

The continuous provision of 

data enables improvement of sand quality 

while increasing the precision of 

molding and casting. This helps meet 

tighter tolerances, and considerably 

reduces subsequent work on the castings. 

The sand circulatory system is also 

included in the digitally monitored process 

chain, and thus assists in the traceability 

of castings, among other things. 

Photos: Andreas Bednareck 

Sacher Kast, an 

employee at Karl Casper 

Guss, obtains data 

on acasting from the 

feedback monitor in 

the foundry hall. 

Information on the 

unit number, model 

and designation is 

provided after the 

casting’s bar code has 

been scanned. 

Predictive maintenance 

Aprocess optimization that precisely 

coordinates maintenance work with 

the wear that has taken place can also 

be seen at Düker in Laufach. Its use, 

however, isnow common practice in 

the melting plants of many foundries. 

The furnace’s numerous sensors in the 

OCP system (Optical Coil Protection) 

from Otto Junker constantly monitor 

the filling state and weight in the aggregate. 

At the same time, afiber-optic 

cable measures the temperature on the 

inside of the induction coil, thus monitoring 

wear of the furnace lining. 

Visual translation on the screen provides 

agood indication of the state of 

the refractory material. Relining then 

takes place when necessary, cutting 

costs and increasing safety in the melting 

plant. 

Maintenance on the basis of digital 

methods is now also carried out by ABP 

Induction Systems regardless of location, 

which is particularly helpful during 

this coronavirus pandemic. Service personnel 

can provide virtual support to 

technicians on site with the help of a 

headset with asmall video screen and 

camera. Circuit diagrams can be fed-in 

during maintenance, and instructions 

provided. The technology has therefore 

taken astep towards augmented reality, 

with which ultimately every hand 

movement during maintenance work 

can be supported technically, and 

valuable supplementary information 

can be provided. 

Traceability and fault prevention 

Foundries have been working on the 

traceability of castings for some time 

34

now. While it was initially ademand 

from carmakers, intended to ensure 

reproducible production steps and 

high quality, for many casters traceability 

(e.g. via RFID chips) now includes 

the almost complete penetration of 

individual process steps, and thus also 

the reduced potential for faults. “The 

casting knows best what has happened 

to it –wejust have to make it talk,” 

sums up Prof. Hartmann. While it is 

relatively easy to mark acasting during 

the die-casting process, it is definitely 

more difficult in the case of core shooting 

and sand casting. Hartmann is 

working with Franken Guss Kitzingen 

on the Castcode project, involving the 

marking of components via the mold, 

whereby amark isembedded in the 

pattern plate. This would enable the 

calling up of current data on the melt, 

Christof Amend, Melting Operations 

Manager at Düker in 

Laufach, demonstrates charging 

via joystick. The chutes 

for input materials can be 

seen on the left. 

Fully automatic core production 

at Inacore inErgoldsbach: 

industrial robots carry 

out most of the work steps 

here. They place the cores in 

racks marked with RFID 

codes. 

Photo: Inacore 

mold material data including machine 

data (mold plant, core-shooting 

machine) and, for example, cooling 

data. The hand molding shop Karl Kasper 

Guss introduced RFID chips for 

administrating mold boxes some time 

ago. In the Inacore core shop in Ergoldsbach 

in Bavaria, which supplies the 

BMW light-metal foundry in Landshut 

with inorganic cores, the RFID chips are 

attached tothe racks. This enables them 

to assign production parameters to 

batches. The production cycles and their 

associated data can be called up in realtime 

via aPC, and can be compared 

with older data. Inacore cooperates 

with the University of Passau so that 

one day –with the help of this wealth 

of data –nomore faults will be possible. 

Data quality counts 

It cannot, however, beassumed that a 

wealth of production data automatically 

provides good forecasts on quality. 

“I could have amountain of data with 

little information, or just 120 lines of 

data with really important information,” 

Gottschling knows, and Hartmann 

adds: “Getting agood data structure 

in the company isthe very first 

thing that must be done before optimizations 

are possible.” 

The two professors recently proved 

this with aparticularly creative project 

on data gathering: the state of sand is 

acoustically determined using their 

so-called ‘chafing generator’ and the 

forecasting data is used to calculate an 

optimum time window for sand regeneration. 

The consequence: aprocess with 

improved energy and resource conservation. 

Safeguarding the future 

by reducing rejects 

Afoundry can save alot of money by 

reducing the number of rejects. The 

Danish Norican Group working with the 

South African IT company DataProphet 

offers the latest system for foundries, 

intended to reduce the number of 

rejects in serial production by up to 45 

percent. Such systems are already in operation 

in aSpanish foundry group and at 

the South African Atlantis foundry. 

The system from Swedish company 

pour-tech, recently presented in CP+T 

1/2021 from page 24, also promises to 

reduce the number of rejects. Foundries 

where defective casting is particularly 

expensive, e.g. roller foundries, have 

already used IT systems for the early 

prevention of defects for some time 

now. At Walze Irle in Netphen, for 

example, probes provide data that computer 

algorithms use to determine melting 

point and melting range values, as 

well as tapping and casting temperatures, 

to prepare for casting. 

The race for the future of the sector 

in the digital age –with minimal rejects 

and maximum process reliability –has 

therefore started. “If weknow all the 

data, all the starting conditions and the 

laws of nature we can provide atotally 

accurate forecast,” Prof. Gottschling 

replies to the question of how exact the 

forecasting function could be. This may 

well prove difficult. But Prof. Hartmann 

is certain that foundries could become 

“more flexible, more agile, more reliable 

and more robust,” –anadvantage 

as afoundry location, that should definitely 

be exploited. 


MOLD AND COREMAKING 

Photos and Graphik: Mingzhi Technologie Leipzig 

Core Shooting 

High-efficiency heater integrated into acore shooter. Usually, it is 

installed separately from the machine. 

Efficient curing process of the 

core making machine 

An integrated high-efficiency heater for acore making machine’s newest generation 

improves the curing efficiency of the core making machine, reducing energy consumption 

and creating catalyst material savings. The article features the development 

method, value, and performance results, as well as afinite element analysis method to 

improve the performance of the heater with an integrated design concept. The results 

show that significant results have been achieved. 

By Yang Linlong and Xu Leilei, Suzhou, China 

Introduction 

The gas generator (including gas heater, 

abbreviated as heater) of the traditional 

core making machine, widely used 

in the foundry industry, isusually installed 

separately from the equipment. Its 

main function is to send high-temperature 

gas or catalytic gas into the blowing 

plate through hoses, joints, the 

connecting plate, and into the core box, 

resulting in the hardening of the sand 

core. 

Based upon research into the inorganic 

and organic core curing process, 

improving the heater‘s ability to continuously 

provide high-temperature gas 

is aknown challenge. Considering the 

status quo and associated problems, the 

development of high-performance heaters 

can provide high-level efficiency 

and energy savings. 

With the current technology, the 

high-temperature gas has alengthy 

transport distance, great temperature 

loss (up to 60% or more), high energy 

consumption, and poor stability. Especially 

among the conditions of the inorganic 

curing process, the temperature 

cannot be guaranteed, resulting in low 

curing efficiency and high energy 

consumption. 

Status analysis 

The schematic diagram of the traditional 

generator scheme is revealed in 

Figure 1, which shows the combination 

36

of the upper moving mechanism of the 

core making machine. Since the upper 

part of the core making process repeats 

once every cycle, the heater is fixed on 

the upper frame, and the hot air or the 

catalytic gas is delivered to the gassing 

bell under aspecific pressure which 

results in the hardening of the sand 

core. 

For analysis of the distribution 

power composition of the main functions 

of the core making machine, we 

use the 40 l-core making machine as an 

example, see Figure 2:Thereby T1 is the 

sum of auxiliary actions for the equipment 

to achieve core making, T2 the 

time period of sand shooting and 

discharge of high-pressure gas after the 

mold closing equipment is locked and 

T3 the time period for core sand solidification 

after filling the cavity. 

The core-making cycle time is 

T=T1+T2+T3, and the hardening of the 

sand core accounts for about 50%-60% 

of the core-making cycle. The traditional 

core-making efficiency is about 

50-60 type/H (cold core process), 40-50 

type/H (Inorganic technology). 

The main functional power distribution 

of the core making machine is divided 

across the hydraulic station (pressure), 

operating units, and heaters 

(Figure 3). Among these, heaters 

account for about 25%~40%. Combined 

with the previous evaluation 

data, the curing energy consumption of 

the traditional core making machine 

(Cold core process) is about 0.009Kwh/ 

kg 

(Calculated based on the ratio of the 

measured curing energy consumption 

to the weight of the sand core during a 

specific blowing period) 

Compressed air 

(1) Sand shooting barrel assembly, (2) Gassing bell assembly, (3) Heater 

assembly, (4) Connecting hose assembly, (5) Connecting trolley assembly 

Figure 1: Sketch of the traditional solution. 

Integrated solution 

According to the above analysis of the 

operating cycle, the heater accounts for 

60% of the total core-making cycle, and 

the energy consumption accounts for 

40%. The question of how to integrate 

the design will be the starting point in a 

addressing the efficiency and consumption 

problem. The heater integration 

task includes primarily structural integration 

and functional integration: 

> Structural integration: the heater is 

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Energy consumption 

Effectiveness 

27%~34% 33%~41% 25%~40% 

~25 kW 

 

 

Dry cycle time 

~30 kW 

 

 

Sand shooting 

exhaust 

Curing time 

18 kWCold core process 

36 kWInorganic technology 

 

Figure 3: The relationship between power distribution and energy consumption of the main 

functions of the traditional core machine 

(1) The heater body is integrated with the gassing channel 

and electric heating element, (2) Blowing air duct (3) Air inlet 

(4) Air outlet (5) Electric heating element (6) Amine injection port 

(7) Heat insulation (8) Gassing bell (9) Core box (10) Sand core 

Figure 4: Schematic diagram of the functional integration. 

2030sCold core process 80% 

3050sInorganic technology 80% 

Figure 2: The relationship between core-making cycle time and efficiency using the 

traditional method. 

P 

integrated with the blowing hood of 

the core making machine. 

> Functional integration: heater and 

cold core process catalyst atomization 

accomplish afunctional integration. 

The schematic diagram of the functional 

integration is shown in Figure 4, 

whereas the schematic diagram of the 

integrated solution is shown in Figure 5. 

Compared to the traditional scheme, 

the other mechanisms are the same, but 

the heater is integrated on the blowing 

hood, eliminating the traditional 

connecting hose assembly. 

According tothe current structure of 

the key functional component of the 

heater, its physical shape and the geometric 

model of the fluid channel area 

are preprocessed, and the flow and 

heat exchange process of the heater are 

simulated and analyzed according to 

the operating conditions of the heater 

(Figure 6): 

> The three-dimensional flow trajectory 

diagram of the gas in the heater 

channel and the core area diagram of 

the air flow vortex are obtained 

through simulation, and the air inlet 

Reynolds number, obtained through 

simulation, is within the “strong turbulence” 

stage. 

> The heater is designed to simultaneously 

introduce gas into both sets of 

flow channels. Since the channel geometric 

structure is symmetrically similar, 

the gas flow in the two sets of flow 

channels also exhibits asymmetrically 

distributed flow pattern. 

> Itcan be seen from the schematic 

diagram that within the heater flow 

channels, the gas flow state in most 

areas is aturbulent vortex flow, sothe 

heating and heat exchange efficiency of 

the heater is relatively high. 

Table 1: Verification results of the integration scheme (with a40l-core making machine as an example). 

Performance Traditional solution Integrated solution Trend Parameter 

Heatloss in % 50-60 10-20 reduce 30-50 

Curing energy 

0.009 0.0045 reduce 50% 

consumption in Kwh/kg (Cold 

core process only) 

Catalyst consumption 

1-1.5ml/kg 0.5-0.7 reduce 30-50% 

(Catalystdosage/sand core 

Weightinml/kg,cold core process 

only) 

Curing efficiency 

Curing time in s 

reduce 30-50% 

Exhaust system processing 

airvolumeinm 3 /h 

20-30 (Cold core 

process) 

30-50 ((Inorganic 

-technology) 

10-20 (Cold core 

process) 

15-25 (Inorganic 

technology) 

50 % 

About 8000 About 3500 reduce 40-50% 

38

The serpentine curved flow channels 

in the different layers of the heater are 

connected through the vertical tube. 

Due tothe small size of the round tube, 

the acceleration of the gas flow is 

achieved by the constant scaling of the 

pipe size in the heater, which enhances 

the heat exchange effect to some 

extent. 

> From the top inlet of the heater to 

the bottom outlet, the temperature rise 

of the gas is relatively stable and continuous. 

This indicates that when the 

heating rod is working, the heater shell 

and the gas near the boundary layer 

near the wall of the flow channel are 

effectively heated, and the vortex in the 

elbow area makes the gas heat exchange 

stronger. The temperature rise of 

the mainstream in the smooth straight 

channel depends primarily upon the 

heat status of the molecules. 

Production test and verification 

results 

Through the application of the integrated 

solution, due to the increase of blowing 

temperature and continuous 

improvement, the blowing curing time 

is significantly shortened, thereby reducing 

the amount of sand core curing 

time and improving the core making 

efficiency. (See Figure 7): The percentage 

of sand core hardening in the 

core-making cycle is reduced from 

50-60 %toabout 37-44 %, and the 

core-making efficiency of the integrated 

solution is increased to approximately 

90-100 type/H (cold core process) 

and 80-90 type/H (inorganic process). 

Due to the cancellation of the 

high-temperature gas delivery pipeline, 

the blowing temperature heat 

loss is greatly reduced, and the same 

inlet temperature of the blowing hood 

is obtained. The set temperature of the 

heater integration scheme is lower, the 

response time is shorter, and the proportion 

ofheater power is also 

reduced from 25%~40% to 18%~30%. 

In addition, the curing energy 

consumption is estimated to be 

reduced by more than 50%. (See 

Figure 8): In addition, for the cold core 

process, as the heater and the catalyst 

atomization are functionally integrated, 

the catalyst can be blown and 

injected after the initial atomization, 

and the catalyst gasification efficiency 

and utilization rate are improved, thereby 

reducing the catalyst. In the case 

of consumption, ahigher catalytic 

effect is obtained, and the curing efficiency 

is improved. 

Energy consumption 

Effectiveness 

44%50% 12%13% 37%44% 

Dry cycle time 

Sand shooting 

exhaust 

32%37% 38%45% 18%30% 

~25 kW 

 

 

~30 kW 

 

 

Curing time 

1020Cold core process 80% 

1525Inorganic technology 80% 

 

 

 

Compressedair 

Amine- 

inlet 

(1) Sand shooting barrel assembly (2) Blow hood assembly 

(3) Integrated heater assembly (4) Connecting trolley assembly 

Figure 5: Schematic diagram of the integration solution. 

Figure 6: Heater geometry model. 

Figure 7: The relationship between cycle time and efficiency of an integrated solution for 

manufacturing sand cores. 

Figure 8: The relationship between power distribution and energy consumption of the main 

processes of the integrated core making machine. 

P 



Table 1 clearly shows: in the case of 

reducing the heat loss by 50 %, the 

energy consumption can be effectively 

reduced by 50 %, the curing efficiency 

increased by 30 to 50 %, the amount of 

catalyst reduced by 30 %, and the costs 

of exhaust gas purification treatment 

will decrease accordingly (the exhaust 

system processing air volume is reduced 

by 40 to 50%). 

Figure 9: Completed finalization plan of the integrated heater. 

Blow inlet temperature 

Conclusion 

This paper studies the high-efficiency 

blowing and curing technology of the 

core-making machine. It integrates heat 

exchange principles, curing process 

principles, and advanced integrated 

design concepts. Afinite element digital 

analysis model of the heater is established. 

Through multi-dimensional analysis, 

the finalized heater is also 

established. Design parameters, and 

likewise, test quantification and production 

verification of the finalized 

heater yield the following results: 

> Reduced energy consumption by 

more than 30 % 

> Reduction in the amount of catalyst 

by more than 30 %under the organic 

process 

> Curing efficiency increase by about 

50 % 

> Exhaust gas treatment air volume 

reduction by more than 50 %under the 

organic process conditions 

www.mingzhi-tech.eu 

Yang Linlong, Xu Leilei, Suzhou Mingzhi 

Technology Co. Ltd. Suzhou, China 

Blowing times 

Organic process 

Inorganic technology 

Figure 10: Blowing inlet temperature curve of the integrated solution. 

Figure 9represents the finalized 

plan of the integrated heater, which has 

been applied to the production test 

verification of the Mingzhi MiCC300 

integrated intelligent core-making unit. 

Almost 200,000 molds of sand core have 

been manufactured with no process failures. 

The blowing inlet temperature of 

the organic process can be above 150 ℃. 

Inorganic process blowing inlet temperature 

is above 200℃ (blowing pressure 

is 3bar, blowing flow isabout 1200 l/ 

min); 

Figure 10 shows the blowing inlet 

temperature curve of the integrated 

solution. During the entire high-efficiency 

curing period (within 30 s), the 

blowing inlet temperature of the integrated 

heater shows improved capability 

to remain constant. The blowing inlet 

temperature over 30 sshows adownward 

trend, with adecrease of about 5 

%, which reflects that the heater‘s heat 

capacity, heating power and other parameters 

are well designed and result in 

good performance. 

Verification results 

The data obtained through the production 

test verification and summarized in 

40

NEWS 

ASK CHEMICALS 

Hubert Windegger is new Chief Financial Officer 

Hubert Windegger (50) joins the 

management of ASK Chemicals, Hilden, 

Germany, asGroup Chief Financial 

Officer (CFO). In this role, he is responsible 

for the areas Finance, Controlling, 

Digitalization &IT. 

Windegger succeeds Anders Wester, 

who left the company at the end of 

February. Wester served as CFO of the 

ASK Chemicals Group since 2018 and 

made important contributions to the 

company‘s sustainable financial 

development inrecent years. 

With the Swiss Hubert Windegger, 

the global foundry supplier ASK Chemicals 

gains an experienced financial 

expert as Group CFO. Windegger has 

held various management positions at 

Dow Chemical in Europe, including a 

recent stint at Trinseo Europe, where he 

Photo: ASK Chemicals 

New CFO: Hubert Windegger succeeds 

Anders Wester at ASK Chemicals Group. 

contributed his financial expertise as 

Division CFO. 

„Hubert is aseasoned manager 

who, alongside traditional CFO responsibilities, 

will set new emphasis in the 

digitalization strategy of ASK Chemicals. 

Iamvery pleased that we were 

able to win hin for our company,“ says 

Frank Coenen, CEO of ASK Chemicals 

Group. 

ASK Chemicals is one of the world’s 

largest suppliers of foundry chemicals 

and consumables, with acomprehensive 

product and service portfolio of binders, 

coatings, feeders, filters, and 

release agents, as well as metallurgical 

products including inoculants, Mg-treatment, 

and inoculation wires and master 

alloys for iron casting. 

www.ask-chemicals.com 

NORICAN GROUP AMERICAS 

Mike Lewis becomes new head of sales and service 

Norican Group, parent company to 

leading industrial equipment brands 

Disa, Italpresse Gauss, StrikoWestofen 

and Wheelabrator, has appointed Mike 

Lewis as its new Vice President for 

Sales and Service in North and South 

America. In this position, he will be responsible 

for sales and service for all 

four Norican Group brands. 

With atotal of 36 years of Norican 

experience under his belt, Mike’s deep 

knowledge of the metalworking industry 

makes him the right person to 

understand what customers really need. 

Mike started as aservice technician with 

Disa, then worked his way up to service 

manager before becoming Disa President 

for North America in 2004. Most 

recently VP Commercial Operations for 

Norican Group Americas, he gained a 

degree in Business Management from 

Aurora University in 1999. 

“I’m very excited to take over this 

role,” said Mike. “Our industry is more 

competitive than ever and, as we come 

out of the pandemic, our customers are 

looking to us to help them improve performance. 

I’m looking forward to continuing 

to broaden and deepen our 

Will promote sales 

and services in the 

Americas: Mike 

Lewis, who has 

been Americas-President 

of Norican 

brand Disa and VP 

Commercial Operations 

for Norican 

Group Americas 

before. 

customer support, becoming even more 

responsive to customer requests and 

making it as simple as possible for them 

to access the incredible combined 

expertise of the four Norican Group 

brands.” 

Norican Group has spent the last 

two years upgrading its infrastructure 

to better serve its customers and transform 

the way it delivers equipment, 

parts and services. In 2020, it moved all 

manufacturing and operations for the 

four brands into its LaGrange Technology 

Hub in Georgia where anew operations 

and assembly facility opens in 

2022. “To build world class support and 

customer service, we are investing heavily 

in anew logistics set-up in the USA 

and weare partnering athird-party 

logistics company to improve our speed 

of delivery,” said Kim Tjerrild, Senior 

Vice President Americas at Norican 

Group. “This, accompanied by the 

newly announced headquarters, is designed 

to give our employees the best 

environment to optimize our support to 

all our valued customers.” 

www.noricangroup.com 

Photo: Norican Group 


NEWS 

Photo: Bühlergroup 

Bühler Carat 560 die-casting machine. With the Carat 840 Bühler announced an even 

bigger machine for casting the entire front or back of future cars. 

BÜHLER DIE CASTING 

Larger machines revolutionize body-in-white 

production 

Bühler, Uzwil, Switzerland, is expanding 

its portfolio with the launch of 

Carat 560 and Carat 610, and the 

recently announced Carat 840 to meet 

the trends for larger and more complex 

parts. 

Structural components have clearly 

gained in importance in the automotive 

industry over the last years, with a 

trend towards even larger parts. This 

presents aclear opportunity for the 

die-casting industry. Larger and more 

complex parts produced in the die-casting 

process are acurrent trend. The 

automotive market is seeing the discussion 

of new body-in-white-concepts, 

with atendency to ever larger parts 

produced in aluminum die casting. This 

offers the possibility to functionally 

integrate various other parts, producing 

them in one shot, instead of in various 

production steps. This, in turn, reduces 

complexity and increases productivity in 

the automotive manufacturing process 

for the body-in-white. “We are seeing 

an entire front or entire back of acar 

produced in one shot, coming out of a 

die-casting machine every 2minutes. 

With this we see huge potential for an 

even more efficient production process 

for the automotive industry and afascinating 

opportunity for die casting,” 

says Cornel Mendler, Managing Director 

Die Casting. 

The new Carat 560 and Carat 610 

with locking forces of up to 61,000 

kilonewton (kN) are the latest addition 

to Bühler’s portfolio. In November 

2020, Bühler announced the Carat 840 

–with alocking force of 84,000 kN. 

Imagine adie-casting machine as a 

big as ahouse, at6meters high and 

standing on afloorspace of over 60 

square meters. It is not only the dimensions 

that are impressive, but also the 

performance. “The Carat 610 is able to 

cast over 100 kg of liquid aluminum 

into adie within milliseconds, thereby 

holding the die tight by applying a 

force of 61,000 kN to it. This is comparable 

tohaving athousand elephants 

sitting on the die,” explains Martin 

Lagler. 

The Carat two-platen die-casting 

solution with minimum deflection and 

ahigh degree of dimensional accuracy 

has long-proven its value for the production 

of large and complex structural 

components. Equipped with the 

unique Bühler shot control system, for 

real-time closed-loop control, Carat 

enables the casting of parts of high 

quality, repeatedly, shot after shot. 

All the machines in the expanded 

Carat portfolio have the operator in 

mind. They are delivered with Bühler’s 

DataView control unit –which makes 

the control of the die-casting machine 

easier and more intuitive via its multitouch 

screen, making programing up 

to 25% faster. Additionally, every 

machine is equipped with Bühler’s new 

energy frame concept with aclear and 

distinctive arrangement of energy couplings. 

The Carat series also offers the 

option of servo drive technology. 

www.buehlergroup.com 

42

ENEMAC 

Manufacturing of steel parts by bending, 

pressing and punching 

Flexibility, shorter set-up and production 

times, increase of operational safety and 

efficiency. The conditions and requirements 

in manufacturing technology are 

becoming increasingly complex. But at 

the same time users are looking for simple 

and cost effective solutions in order 

to continue to produce economically 

and thus competitive. 

In the field of mechanical and hydromechanical 

clamping elements Enemac, 

Kleinwallstadt, Germany, offers with 

various power clamping systems and 

hydro-mechanical spring clamping systems 

flexible and reliable clamping 

technology. 

The range runs from the controlled 

clamping with torque handle ESBS / 

ESBT with anominal clamping force of 

up to 40 kN towards power clamping 

nut ESB with up to 200 kN and the type 

ESD with up to 180 kN. For these products, 

relatively low torques are converted 

by an internal gear ratio in high 

axial forces. 

In case of the power clamping screw 

ESS the tightening torque is converted 

by awedge clamping system in clamping 

forces up to 250 kN. Therefore 

available are thread sizes from M36 to 

TR 100. 

With the so-called spring clamping 

cylinders, acombination of disc spring 

and hydraulic, clamping forces up to 

350 KNare available. The hydraulic supply 

has to be present only during installation 

and removal of these products, in 

operation, the axial force is kept purely 

mechanically by adisc spring assembly. 

This clamping technology offers a 

real alternative to both simple workholding 

equipment such as clamps and brackets 

as well as to semi-and fully automatic 

clamping elements with their 

elaborate power supply and control systems. 

Especially in the manufacturing 

process of steel parts in presses and 

Clamping technology by Enemac. 

punches the clamping elements provide 

ahigh degree of safety and humanization 

of workplaces through low hand 

forces during tightening of the necessary 

tools and equipment. 

www.enemac.de 

Photo: Enemac 

Competence in 

Shot Blast Technology 

20 Years 

As afull-range supplier,wedesign 

and manufactureshot blasting 

machines including filter and 

transporttechnology. 

We placeparticular value to service. 

➜ Newshot blasting machines 

➜ Optimizedsecond hand 

machines 

➜ Wear andspare parts 

➜ Inspection andconsulting 

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Gesellschaftfür technische 

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Gutenbergstraße 14 

D-48282 Emsdetten 

Tel. +49(0)2572 96026-0 

info@agtos.de 

www.agtos.com 

287-01/21-4c-GB 


NEWS 

VELCO 

Refractory specialist celebrates 50th anniversary 

For now 50 years, Velco GmbH in Velbert, 

Germany, has earned agood 

reputation as areliable partner to the 

foundry, steel and refractory industries. 

Velbert, at the border of the Ruhr area, 

was animportant center of the foundry 

industry in earlier years with cupola furnaces 

for gray and malleable cast iron. 

The refractory lining ofacupola furnace 

has to be repaired daily. Itwas 

very time-consuming and strenuous for 

the workers, because an earth-moist 

compound was rammed behind atemplate. 

Abetter solution was searched for 

this work. In the discussions with the 

foundry specialists and the refractory 

industry, itwas considered to use dry 

gunning technology also here. The 

machines on the market were only suitable 

to alimited extent. That is why 

Kurt Wolf developed the prototype of 

the Rotamat rotor gunning machine in 

1971 which is still sold today, not only 

to the foundry industry. With the introduction 

of the Rotamat gunning 

machine in connection with ahydraulic 

lifting platform, also especially 

developed by Velco, refractory repairs 

could now be carried out faster, safer 

and more cost-effectively. There were 

also improvements in the logistics and 

because the refractory material could 

now also be delivered in big bags or silo 

trucks, which of course also made work 

considerably easier because the 

machine no longer had to be filled 

using goods in sacks. 

The Rotamat gunning machine is 

small and handy and can be used for 

many repair applications, also in the 

steel, refractory and construction industries. 

Over the decades Velco GmbH has 

improved and expanded its delivery 

program, especially with regard to the 

increased requirements for cost reduction, 

efficiency and safety. Based on this 

machine know-how, the company 

built-up asecond business line, the 

pneumatic transport of dry bulk materials. 

In foundries, its systems are used, 

for example, to blow carbon fines into 

the cupola. This way, the percentage of 

coke can be further reduced. Alloying 

costs can be lowered by dosed injection 

of Si-fines into the cupola furnace. 

Moreover, foundry residues such as filter, 

grinding or cleaning dust can be 

Velco‘s company history began in 1971 with the first Rotamat. 

blown into the cupola 

furnace and recycled 

there. 

As part of astate funded 

research project, 

Velco has blown Zn-containing 

filter dust into 

molten metal for acustomer. 

Ahighly concentrated 

zinc oxide product is 

produced here. 

The companies’ systems 

are also used in the 

steel industry in 

secondary metallurgy, 

e.g. for analysis correction 

or for desulfurization. 

The return of production 

residues in the 

form of fines is also a 

practicable method for 

the non-ferrous industry. 

Depending on the grain 

size and size of the melt, 

fines are blown into or 

onto the melt. This is 

how residues become 

valuable raw materials. 

www.velco.de 

Lifting platform and spraying 

machine made refractory 

lining repair easier and safer. 

44

O.M.LER 

Rotating decoring machine 

The new DCB18 rotary decoring 

machine from O.M.LER, Bandito, Italy, 

allows simultaneous decoring of multiple 

cast iron, aluminum or steel castings 

due to its rotary motion of up to 

360° in both directions. 

decoring machine is operated in a 

soundproof booth certified according to 

European regulations EN 1090- 

1:2009+A1:2011 and UNI EN ISO 11690-1. 

www.omlersrl.com 

Exterior view 

of the new 

decoring machine. 

Unique according tothe company, the 

DCB18 rotates up to 360° without interrupting 

the movement of the decoring 

hammers. The simultaneous rotation 

and hammer movement significantly 

accelerate the decoring process. The 

machine also allows two or up to four 

castings to be clamped and processed 

simultaneously. The castings can be 

positioned in the clamping surfaces either 

manually or automatically with the 

aid ofarobot. Each casting can weigh 

up to 70 kg including sand. 

All the manufacturer‘s hammer 

models are suitable for the new decoring 

machine. For safety reasons, the 

Photo: O.M.LER 

MediaKit 2021 

Giveyour marketing 

the significantboost! 

+49 211 1591 142 


NEWS 

WATER-BASED COATINGS 

Controlling formaldehyde emissions with Semco FF 

Environmental sustainability is high on 

everyone’s agenda. Foseco is committed 

to set the benchmark for sustainability 

in the foundry industry, complying 

with new, more stringent and 

revised regulations –and supporting its 

customers to do the same. 

The new Semco FFrange of water-based 

coatings clearly demonstrates this 

commitment. Designed to reduce evolved 

formaldehyde emissions, these coatings 

support foundries’ compliance 

with the latest EU regulations. 

Water-based coatings are amore 

environmentally-friendly alternative to 

solvent-based coatings, but this brings 

new challenges, most notably the 

susceptibility of water-based coatings to 

attack by microorganisms such as bacteria 

and fungi. These microorganisms can 

negatively influence the performance 

of the coating and even lead to health 

issues amongst operators. To protect 

against microorganisms, biocides are 

built into the formulation of water-based 

coatings. Typically, these biocides 

provide aslow release of formaldehyde, 

which isaneffective antibacterial and 

antifungal agent. However, inmany 

regions, formaldehyde is classified as a 

potential carcinogen and mutagen. In 

this context, the EU has recently tightened 

its regulations to reduce airborne 

With the help of acolor change, the coating can indicate that the coating is dry. 

mass concentration limits of formaldehyde. 

Semco FF coatings do not use 

biocides that release formaldehyde, 

especially within the coating drying 

process, when emissions are most concentrated. 

They therefore support 

foundries in complying with the new 

regulations and avoid the need for costlier 

and more complicated investments 

in new orupgraded gas treatment systems. 

Inaddition to cutting formaldehyde 

emissions, these coatings can be 

specified to incorporate colour change 

on drying technology. This allows operators 

to easily see when coatings are 

dry, enabling the optimization of drying 

cycles and energy consumption. This not 

only reduces costs but also the carbon 

footprint of foundry operations. 

The new coatings come with the existing 

beneficial properties and performance 

of the Semco SIL coating range, 

including afast drying process, reduced 

energy consumption and VOC, improved 

foundry efficiency and CO 2 

emission 

reduction. 

www.foseco.com 

Photo: Foseco 

GEORG FISCHER 

Good result in challenging times 

The Georg Fischer Corporation took 

stock of the Corona 2020 financial year 

at the beginning of March. Sales fell by 

14.4 percent to the equivalent of 2.8 

billion euros. Net profit amounted to 

105 million euros. However, Georg 

Fischer views the result positively in 

view of the ongoing pandemic and 

believes it is still in aposition to master 

the crisis with its strategic positioning, 

financial stability and focus on innovation. 

The operating result ofthe GF 

Casting Solutions division showed a 

loss. 

All employees, whether in production, 

logistics or administration, quickly 

adapted to the new situation, a GF 

media release said. They demonstrated 

their flexibility by adapting to challenging 

working conditions and adopting 

new digital tools. The Corporation 

reported asignificantly better result in 

the second half of2020 than in the first. 

At the end of 2020, GF had 14,118 

employees working in the three divisions 

GF Piping Solutions, GF Casting 

Solutions and GFMachining Solutions 

compared to 14,678 employees in the 

previous year. The biggest changes took 

place at GFCasting Solutions due to the 

strategic transformation of the division. 

Based on the net profit of around 105 

million euros (2019: 157 million euros) 

in 2020 and the good positioning of the 

Corporation, adividend payment is still 

planned. 

GF is continuously shifting its focus 

to less cyclical market segments, thus 

increasing its resilience to cyclical fluctuations. 

All three divisions are responding 

to the challenges of global megatrends, 

it says. These include providing 

clean water to agrowing world population, 

lighter automotive components to 

reduce CO 2 

emissions, and high-precision 

components to reduce energy 

consumption. 

At GF Casting Solutions, 2020 continued 

the evolution into aglobal company 

with international production sites 

46

and afocus on lightweight castings. 

This is in line with the increasingly 

important role the division is playing in 

sustainable mobility. 

However, GFCasting Solutions‘ 

results were impacted by several lockdowns 

during the pandemic, which led 

to aslump in orders in the automotive 

and aerospace business. During the 

first wave of the pandemic in early 

2020, the division faced acomplete 

production shutdown of several weeks. 

On the other hand, the ongoing shift 

in the automotive industry towards 

hybrid and electric vehicles supported 

the business, with other rapidly implemented 

structural and operational 

measures also contributing. Orders for 

hybrid and electric vehicles reached 

32% of total orders. The number of 

orders increased significantly in the 

final quarter of 2020, indicating arecovery 

in business. 

Sales fell by 11.9 %(organically) to 

683 million euros, while operating profit 

showed aloss ofaround 31 million 

euros. The relocation of the GF Casting 

Solutions site in Werdohl, Germany, was 

largely completed by year-end. The 

related one-off effects amounted to 

17.3 million euros. The start-up of the 

new light metal foundry in Mills River 

(USA) was negatively impacted by the 

lockdown measures. With the new light 

metal foundry in Shenyang, China, GF 

Casting Solutions aims to benefit from 

the positive development of the Chinese 

automotive market, especially in 

view of the growing demand for hybrid 

and electric vehicles. Construction is 

proceeding according to plan and production 

is scheduled to start in 2022. 

The division has already received its first 

orders for the site. 

www.georgfischer.com 

ITALPRESSE GAUSS 

Jiangzhong installs giant die-casting machine 

Nantong Jiangzhong Photoelectricity 

Co., Ltd. (“Jiangzhong”) from Nantong, 

China, has officially launched its latest 

project: installing an Italpresse Gauss 

TF5700 High Pressure Die Casting 

(HPDC) machine. 

With its huge 3500 x3500 mm platens, 

the TF5700’s closing force of 5700 tons 

makes it asuitable solution for large 

part production. Once installed, Jiangzhong’s 

TF5700 –which will be built at 

Italpresse Gauss’ Italian headquarters 

–will bethe first one deployed in 

China, with the Italpresse team at Norican 

Group’s facility inChangzhou completing 

the installation and supporting 

the machine moving forward. In apairing 

with the TF5700, Jiangzhong has 

also purchased aWestomat 3100 from 

StrikoWestofen to integrate seamlessly 

with the machine. 

Established in 1992, Jiangzhong specializes 

in the production of die-cast 

aluminium alloy parts for lifts and 

escalators, such as escalator steps, lift 

ceilings and floors, moving walkway 

treads and glass-holder brackets. In 

2020, itproduced 16,000 tonnes of diecast 

aluminium parts for famous brands 

like Schindler, Mitsubishi, Otis, Hitachi 

and Hyundai. 

“The future of our company 

depends on advanced, smart and digitally-enabled 

equipment,” said Mr Xu 

Yinglong, Chairman of Jiangzhong. 

“The TF5700 will help us with larger 

parts for our traditional escalator market 

and will also open up new markets 

for us in producing large structural 

parts for automotive or even high 

Adie-casting machine of the Italpresse Gauss-TF-Series. 

speed railway. This is abig opportunity. 

We are seeing a25%increase in our 

annual output, so we expect the new 

machine to help us maintain or exceed 

our current growth rate.” 

Commenting at the opportunity 

ahead for Jiangzhong, StrikoWestofen 

and Italpresse Gauss, Peter Reuther, 

Senior Vice President of StrikoWestofen 

said that he believes the partnership 

will enable all three businesses to seek 

further “product breakthrough, explore 

potential value, move forward towards 

high, precise and advanced direction 

continuously, and make greater contribution 

to the innovation and development 

of foundry industry”. 

The foundry already operates five 

3,000-tonne die-casting machines as 

well as numerous other smaller and 

medium-sized die-casting machines. 

Three of Jiangzhong’s large machines 

come from Italpresse Gauss, with the 

first installed over adecade ago. 

Compared to toggle-based designs, 

Italpresse Gauss’s TF (toggle-free) range 

of high-pressure die-casting machines 

offer asmaller machine footprint, greater 

rigidity and fewer wear parts for 

improved reliability and performance. 

Though it can produce very large components, 

the TF5700’s compact dimensions 

mean it will fit easily into Jiangzhong’s 

existing factory. The fact that it 

is fully digitally enabled also supports 

Jiangzhong’s need for smart technology. 

www.italpressegauss.com 

Photo: Italpresse Gauss 


NEWS 

CIRCULAR ECONOMY 

Zinc recycling to preserve natural resources 

The Reazn Group is continuously working 

at the optimization of its zinc recycling 

technologies in the context of its 

prime grade zinc alloy production. The 

European group improves the recovery 

rate of zinc units and saves valuable 

raw materials from the waste stream. 

Zinc is one of the most suitable materials 

for an upcycling recovery stream and 

it helps to save natural resources and to 

lower the carbon footprint for the 

whole industry, the Belgian company 

Reazn isconvinced. That is why it keeps 

on investing inbetter recycling processes 

and technologies and is committed 

to reduce its CO 2 

emissions. By doing so, 

Reazn wants to change the perception 

of secondary material and to promote 

the concept of zinc recycling. 

The Reazn Group celebrated its 1st 

birthday on 18 February 2021. One year 

ago, four brands were unified to 

further strengthen the position in their 

core zinc alloy business: 

> Reazn Belgium NV (previously NFM 

Cramet NV), 

> Reazn SA (previously NFM Alloyz), 

> Reazn UK Ltd (previously The Brock 

Metal Company Ltd), 

> Reazn +BV(previously ISTC BVBA). 

Reazn produces 95,000 tons of zinc alloys annually, offering casting and customized 

galvanizing alloys. 

In 1988 Reazn Belgium started the production 

of zinc alloys in Gent, already 

focusing on secondary zinc units. Reazn 

SA was founded in the year 1994 in Luxembourg. 

The company is responsible 

for the procurement of raw materials, 

logistic processes &sales. Reazn UK originates 

from the Brock Metal Company. 

Its factory is located near Wolverhampton, 

UK, and was established in 1949. 

Last, Reazn+ complements Reazn Belgium 

for the processing of complex 

secondary raw materials on the Belgian 

site. 

Today, Reazn produces 95,000 tons 

of zinc alloys per year, offering casting 

and customized galvanizing alloys. The 

company offers alogistical service to 

their customers providing bins for collection 

of the materials to be recycled. 

Another objective is to recover zinc 

units from post-consumer goods. It also 

partly prevents the disposal of demolition 

and household waste. Furthermore, 

every by-product of Reazn´s recycling 

process can be used as raw 

material in other industrial applications. 

www.reazn.com 

Photo: Reazn 

48

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN METAL CASTING 

Clariant and WFO confirm partnership 

Clariant has cemented its on-going collaboration 

with the World Foundry 

Organization (WFO) to support the 

environmental efforts of metal foundries. 

As aLifetime Legacy Sponsor for 

the seventh consecutive year, the company 

from Muttenz in Switzerland 

works with the WFO to drive 

knowledge to help reduce carbon emissions 

and meet the productivity challenges 

and sustainability expectations 

of customer industries. 

WFO General Secretary Andrew Turner, 

said: “The contribution from Clariant 

and our other lifetime legacy sponsors 

allows us to strategically develop and 

plan our future conferences and reports 

to stay ahead of the knowledge curve 

and present this technology and innovation 

at major global gatherings, as 

well as in the Global Foundry Report.” 

And Lorenzo Sechi, Clariants Head of 

Business Group Foundry and Functional 

Additives, comments: “Collaboration has 

always been at the heart of our approach 

inhelping foundries adapt green 

sand casting to their current and future 

needs. We see the WFO as an important 

partner in sharing unprecedented 

insights and informing awide audience 

of the emerging trends to help futureproof 

foundries with ways to boost productivity 

and reduce their environmental 

impact. These priorities are at the core 

of our technology, which provides support 

to the industry in successfully reducing 

foundry emissions, improving working 

conditions and ecological footprint, 

and enabling efficient delivery of the 

high-precision, high-surface-quality castings 

that are demanded today.” 

The latest technology for green sand 

casting -Low Emission+ Technology 

(LE+ Technology) of specialty chemical 

company Clariant has achieved good 

results in European foundries in significantly 

decreasing their BTEX emissions 

and delivering high-surface-quality castings, 

and lowering total cost of 

ownership through less clay and additive 

consumption and waste generation. 

All from asustainably mined solution. 

www.clariant.com 

KURTZ ERSA 

New Managing Director Automation 

Since the beginning of April Dr. Michael 

Wenzel is head of Kurtz Ersa Automation 

GmbH, Wertheim, Germany. Dr. 

Wenzel received his doctorate in physics 

from the Julius Maximilian University 

of Würzburg in 1992. During his 

now 30-year career, the internationally 

experienced manager has served as 

managing director, consultant, and 

interim manager of well-known companies 

in the fields of mechanical and 

plant engineering as well as automation. 

Dr. Michael Wenzel has already been 

working for the Kurtz Ersa Corporation 

for six months. Initially as delegate of 

the advisory board in an advisory capacity 

for the Kurtz Ersa Automation business 

unit. Dr. Wenzel is an expert in the 

successful business development of 

technology companies and an accomplished 

manager for all relevant areas 

such as development, production, sales, 

purchasing and service. The main task 

of the new managing director will be 

the sustainable growth of the Kurtz 

Ersa Automation business unit. 

Kurtz Ersa Automation is an experienced 

automation provider for industries 

such as electronics manufacturing, 

foundry industry and particle foam processing. 

The customer receives everything 

from a single source. Excellent 

project management and the in-depth 

know-how of the respective processes 

deliver customized, stable, and fast 

automation solutions with own products. 

This year, the Kurtz Ersa Corporation 

celebrates its 100th anniversary 

(Electronics Production Equipment) and 

50th anniversary (Molding Machines – 

Protective Solutions) in two relevant 

business areas. As asystem supplier 

with ahigh level of process knowledge, 

Kurtz Ersa offers machines, peripherals, 

and complete handling –asadriving 

force, the market leaders Ersa and Kurtz 

deliver technological innovations and 

digital products as well as Industry 4.0 

solutions. www.kurtzersa.com 

Photo: Kurtz Ersa 

Kurtz Ersa Automation – the industry automation specialist for electronics 

and cast parts production, as well as foam processing. 


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:www.keytocasting.com/ 

1 Foundry Plants and Equipment 

17 SurfaceTreatment andDrying 

2 

Melting Plants and Equipment for Iron and 

Steel Castings and for Malleable Cast Iron 

18 

Plant,Transport, Stock, andHandling 

Engineering 

3 Melting Plants and Equipment for NFM 

4 Refractories Technology 

19 Pattern- andDiemaking 

20 ControlSystems andAutomation 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Non-metalRaw Materials and Auxiliaries for 

Melting Shop 

Metallic Charge Materials for Iron and Steel 

Castings and for Malleable Cast Iron 

Metallic Charge and Treatment Materials for 

Light and Heavy Metal Castings 

Plants and Machines for Moulding and 

Coremaking Processes 

21 TestingofMaterials 

22 Analysis Techniqueand Laboratory 

23 AirTechnique andEquipment 

24 Environmental Protection andDisposal 

9 Moulding Sands 

10 Sand Conditioning and Reclamation 

11 MouldingAuxiliaries 

12 Gating andFeeding 

13 Casting Machines andEquipment 

25 Accident Prevention andErgonomics 

26 OtherProducts forCasting Industry 

27 Consulting andService 

28 Castings 

29 By-Products 

14 

Discharging, Cleaning, FinishingofRaw 

Castings 

30 Data Processing Technology 

15 SurfaceTreatment 

16 Weldingand Cutting 

31 Foundries 

32 Additivemanufacturing /3-D printing 



03 Melting Plants and Equipment for NFM 

08 Plants and Machines for Moulding and 

Coremaking Processes 

03.02 Melting and Holding Furnaces, Electrically 

Heated 

▼ Aluminium Melting Furnaces 630 

Refratechnik Steel GmbH 

Refratechnik Casting GmbH 

Am Seestern 5, 40547 Düsseldorf, Germany 

+49 211 5858-0 

E-Mail: 

steel@refra.com 

Internet: 

www.refra.com 

▼ Insulating Products 1130 

08.02 Moulding and Coremaking Machines 

▼ Multi-Stage Vacuum Process 3223 

LOIThermoprocess GmbH 

45141 Essen/Germany 

+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 

service-loi@tenova.com 

Internet: 

www.loi.tenova.com 

▼ Remelting Furnaces 700 

EIKA,S.COOP 

Urresolo 47, 48277 Etxebarria 

+34 946 16 77 32 

Internet: 

Spain 

E-Mail: 

aagirregomezkorta@isoleika.es 

Internet: 

www.isoleika.es 

▼ Micro Porous Insulating Materials 1220 

Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH 

35614 Asslar,Germany 

+49 6441 802-1190 7 +49 6441 802-1199 

E-Mail: 

andreas.wuerz@pfeiffer-vacuum.de 

Internet: 

www.pfeiffer-vacuum.de 

09 Moulding Sands 

09.01 Basic Moulding Sands 

▼ Chromite Sands 3630 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


04 Refractories Technology 

04.01 Plants, Equipment and Tools for Lining in Melting 

andCasting 

▼ Mixers and Chargers for RefractoryMixes 930 

EIKA,S.COOP 


+34 946 16 77 32 

Internet: 

Spain 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Ladle RefractoryMixes 1240 

GTP Schäfer GmbH 

41515 Grevenbroich, Germany 

+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 

info@gtp-schaefer.de 

Internet: 

www.gtp-schaefer.com 

▼ Ceramic Sands/Chamotte Sands 3645 

UELZENER Maschinen GmbH 

Stahlstr.26-28, 65428 Rüsselsheim, Germany 

+49 6142 177 68 0 

E-Mail: 

contact@uelzener-ums.de 

Internet: 

www.uelzener-ums.de 

▼ Gunning for Relining of Cupolas 950 



+49 6142 177 68 0 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


04.04 RefractoryBuilding 

▼ Maintenance of RefractoryLinings 1462 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Silica Sands 3720 

STROBEL QUARZSAND GmbH 

Freihungsand, 92271 Freihung, Germany 

+49 9646 9201-0 7 +49 9646 9201-701 

E-Mail: 

info@strobel-quarzsand.de 

Internet: 

www.strobel-quarzsand.de 



+49 6142 177 68 0 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 




+49 6142 177 68 0 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


09.04 Mould and Core Coating 

▼ Blackings, in general 4270 

04.02 RefractoryMaterials (Shaped and Non Shaped) 

▼ Refractories, in general 1040 

EIKA, S.COOP 


+34 946 16 77 32 

Internet: 

Spain 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


05 Non-metal Raw Materials and Auxiliaries for 

Melting Shop 

05.04 Carburization Agents 

▼ Coke Breeze, Coke-Dust 1680 

ARISTON Formstaub-WerkeGmbH &Co. KG 

Worringerstr.255, 45289 Essen, Germany 

+49 201 57761 7 +49 201 570648 

Internet: 

www.ariston-essen.de 

ARISTON Formstaub-WerkeGmbH &Co. KG 

Worringerstr.255, 45289 Essen, Germany 

+49 201 57761 7 +49 201 570648 

Internet: 

www.ariston-essen.de 

09.06 Moulding Sands Testing 

▼ Moisture Testing Equipment for Moulding Sand 4410 

Maschinenfabrik GustavEirichGmbH & Co KG 

Walldürner Str.50, 74736 Hardheim, Germany 

Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

52

▼ Moulding Sand Testing Equipment, in general 4420 

10.04 Sand Reconditioning 

▼ Sand Coolers 4720 

▼ Exothermic Feeding Compounds 5430 

Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich GmbH & Co KG 

Walldürner Str. 50, 74736 Hardheim, Germany 

Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

10 Sand Conditioning and Reclamation 

Maschinenfabrik GustavEirichGmbH &CoKG 


Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

12 Gating and Feeding 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


13 Casting Machines and Equipment 

10.01 Moulding Sand Conditioning 

▼ Aerators for Moulding Sand Ready-to-Use 4470 

▼ Covering Agents 5320 

13.02 Die Casting and Accessories 

▼ Diecasting Lubricants 5670 



Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

▼ Sand Preparation Plants and Machines 4480 

Refratechnik Steel GmbH 

Refratechnik Casting GmbH 

Am Seestern 5, 40547 Düsseldorf, Germany 

+49 211 5858-0 

E-Mail: 

steel@refra.com 

Internet: 

www.refra.com 

▼ Breaker Cores 5340 

Chem-Trend (Deutschland) GmbH 

Robert-Koch-Str.27, 22851 Norderstedt, Germany 

+49 40 52955-0 7 +49 40 52955-2111 

E-Mail: 

service@chemtrend.de 

Internet: 

www.chemtrend.com 

▼ Diecasting Parting Agents 5680 



Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

▼ Mixers 4520 



Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

▼ Sand Mixers 4550 



Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

▼ Aerators 4560 



Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

▼ Scales and Weighing Control 4590 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Exothermic Products 5360 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Insulating Sleeves 5375 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Exothermic Mini-Feeders 5400 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Exothermic Feeder Sleeves 5420 



+49 40 52955-0 7 +49 40 52955-2111 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Hydraulic Cylinders 5750 

HYDROPNEU GmbH 

Sudetenstr.,73760 Ostfildern, Germany 

+49 711 342999-0 7 +49 711 342999-1 

E-Mail: 

info@hydropneu.de 

Internet: 

www.hydropneu.de 

▼ Piston Lubricants 5790 



+49 40 52955-0 7 +49 40 52955-2111 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Parting Agents for Dies 5850 



Internet: 

www.eirich.de 



+49 2181 23394-0 7 +49 2181 23394-55 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 




+49 40 52955-0 7 +49 40 52955-2111 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 




▼ DryLubricants (Beads) 5865 

▼ Solution Annealing Furnaces 7455 

20 ControlSystems and Automation 


Robert-Koch-Str. 27, 22851 Norderstedt, Germany 

+49 40 52955-0 7 +49 40 52955-2111 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Multi-Stage Vacuum Process 5876 

LOI Thermoprocess GmbH 


+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Annealing Furnaces 7490 

20.01 Control and Adjustment Systems 

▼ Automation and Control for Sand Preparation 9030 

Maschinenfabrik GustavEirichGmbH & Co KG 


Internet: 

www.eirich.de 

Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH 

35614 Asslar,Germany 

+49 6441 802-1190 7 +49 6441 802-1199 

E-Mail: 

andreas.wuerz@pfeiffer-vacuum.de 

Internet: 

www.pfeiffer-vacuum.de 

17 Surface Treatment and Drying 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Quenching and Tempering Furnaces 7510 

20.02 Measuring and Control Instruments 

▼ Immersion Thermo Couples 9230 

▼ HeatTreatment and Drying 7398 

Gebr.Löcher Glüherei GmbH 

Mühlenseifen 2, 57271 Hilchenbach, Germany 

+49 2733 8968-0 7 +49 2733 8968-10 

Internet: 

www.loecher-glueherei.de 

17.01 Plants and Furnaces 

▼ Tempering Furnaces 7400 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Ageing Furnaces 7401 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ HeatTreating Furnaces 7520 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Hearth Bogie Type Furnaces 7525 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


MINKON GmbH 

Heinrich-Hertz-Str.30-32, 40699 Erkrath, Germany 

+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 

info@minkon.de 

Internet: 

www.minkon.de 

▼ Laser Measurement Techniques 9310 

POLYTEC GmbH 

76337 Waldbronn, Germany 

+49 7243 604-0 7 +49 7243 69944 

E-Mail: 

Lm@polytec.de 

Internet: 

www.polytec.de 

▼ Positioning Control 9345 

POLYTEC GmbH 

76337 Waldbronn, Germany 

+49 7243 604-0 7 +49 7243 69944 

E-Mail: 

Lm@polytec.de 

Internet: 

www.polytec.de 

▼ Temperature Measurement 9380 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Annealing and Hardening Furnaces 7430 

18 Plant, Transport, Stock, and Handling 

Engineering 

18.01 Continuous Conveyors and Accessories 

▼ VibratoryMotors 7980 

MINKON GmbH 


+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 

www.minkon.de 

▼ Thermal Analysis Equipment 9400 



+49 201 1891-1 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


FRIEDRICH Schwingtechnik GmbH 

Am Höfgen 24, 42781 Haan, Germany 

+49 2129 3790-0 7 +49 2129 3790-37 

E-Mail: 

info@friedrich-schwingtechnik.de 

Internet: 

www.friedrich-schwingtechnik.de 

MINKON GmbH 


+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 

www.minkon.de 

54

▼ Thermo Couples 9410 

24 Environmental Protection and Disposal 

▼ HeatTreatment 11345 

▼ Waste Disposal, Repreparation, and Utilization 24.03 

MINKON GmbH 

Heinrich-Hertz-Str. 30-32, 40699 Erkrath, Germany 

+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 

www.minkon.de 

20.03 Data Acquisition and Processing 

▼ Numerical Solidification Analysis and Process 

Simulation 9500 

Remondis Production GmbH -LEGRAN 

Brunnenstraße 138 ,44536 Lünen 

+49 2306 106 8831 

Internet: 

Germany 

E-Mail: 

yannik.droste@remondis.de 

Internet: 

www.legran.de 

26 OtherProducts for Casting Industry 

Gebr. Löcher Glüherei GmbH 

Mühlenseifen 2, 57271 Hilchenbach, Germany 

+49 2733 8968-0 7 +49 2733 8968-10 

Internet: 

www.loecher-glueherei.de 

28 Castings 

▼ Aluminium Pressure Diecasting 11390 

MAGMA Giessereitechnologie GmbH 

Kackertstr.11, 52072 Aachen, Germany 

+49 241 88901-0 7 +49 241 88901-60 

E-Mail: 

info@magmasoft.de 

Internet: 

www.magmasoft.com 

▼ Numerical Solidification Simulation and Process 

Optimization 9502 



+49 241 88901-0 7 +49 241 88901-60 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


▼ Simulation Software 9522 



+49 241 88901-0 7 +49 241 88901-60 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


26.02 Industrial Commodities 

▼ Joints, Asbestos-free 11120 

MINKON GmbH 


+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 

www.minkon.de 

▼ Sealing and Insulating Products up to 1260 øC 11125 

MINKON GmbH 


+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 

www.minkon.de 

27 Consulting and Service 

▼ Machining 11292 

Schött Druckguß GmbH 

Aluminium Die Casting 

Postfach: 

2766, 58687 Menden, Germany 

+49 2373 1608-0 7 +49 2373 1608-110 

E-Mail: 

vertrieb@schoett-druckguss.de 

Internet: 

www.schoett-druckguss.de 

▼ Rolled Wire 11489 

Behringer GmbH 

Maschinenfabrik und Eisengiesserei 

Postfach: 

1153, 74910 Kirchardt, Germany 

+49 7266 207-0 7 +49 7266 207-500 

Internet: 

www.behringer.net 

▼ Spheroidal Iron 11540 



Postfach: 


+49 7266 207-0 7 +49 7266 207-500 

Internet: 


30 Data Processing Technology 

22 Analysis Technique and LaboratoryEquipment 

▼ Mold Filling and Solidification Simulation 11700 

▼ Sampling Systems 9970 

MINKON GmbH 


+49 211 209908-0 7 +49 211 209908-90 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 

www.minkon.de 



Postfach: 


+49 7266 207-0 7 +49 7266 207-500 

Internet: 


▼ Simulation Services 11310 



+49 241 88901-0 7 +49 241 88901-60 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 




+49 241 88901-0 7 +49 241 88901-60 

E-Mail: 


Internet: 


31 Foundries 

31.01 Iron, Steel, and Malleable-Iron Foundries 

▼ Iron Foudries 11855 



Postfach: 


+49 7266 207-0 7 +49 7266 207-500 

Internet: 




IndextoCompanies 

Company Product Company Product 

ARISTON Formstaub-Werke 

GmbH &Co. KG 1680, 4270 

BEHRINGER GmbH 11292, 11489, 11540, 11855 

Maschinenfabrik &Eisengießerei 

Chem Trend (Deutschland) GmbH 5670, 5680, 5790, 5850, 5865 

Maschinenfabrik 4410, 4420, 4470, 4480, 4520, 

Gustav Eirich GmbH u. Co KG 4550, 4560, 4590, 4720, 9030 

Friedrich Schwingtechnik GmbH 7980 

GTP Schäfer 3630, 3645, 5340, 5360, 5375, 

Giesstechnische Produkte GmbH 5400, 5420, 5430 

HYDROPNEU GmbH 5750 

EIKA, S.COOP 1040, 1130, 1220 

REMONDIS Production GmbH 24 

Gebr.LöcherGlüherei 7398, 11345 

GmbH 

LOIThermprocess GmbH 630, 700, 7400, 7401, 7430, 

7455, 7490, 7510, 7520, 7525 

MAGMA Gießereitechnologie GmbH 9500, 9502, 9522, 11310, 11700 

MINKON GmbH 9230, 9380, 9400, 9410, 9970, 

Geschäftsleitung 11120, 11125 

Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH 3223, 5876 

Polytec GmbH 9310, 9345 

Refratechnik Steel GmbH 1040, 5320 

Schött-Druckguß GmbH 11390 

Strobel Quarzsand GmbH 3720 

Uelzener Maschinen GmbH 930, 950, 1240, 1462 

Click here for the product list: 

56

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INTERNATIONAL FAIRS AND CONGRESSES 

Fairs and Congresses 

Litmash Russia 

June, 8-10, 2021, Moskow, Russia 

www.litmash-russia.com 

19th International Foundry Conference 

June, 16-18, 2021, Split, Croatia 

https://crofoundry.simet.hr/en/19th-international-foundrymen-conference/ 

China Diecasting 2021 

July, 7-9, 2021, Shanghai, China 

http://www.diecastexpo.cn/en 

69th Indian Foundry Congress 

July/August, 30-1, 2021, Kolkata, India 

www.ifcindia.net 

61st IFC Portoroz 

September, 15-17, 2021, Portoroz, Slovenia 

www.drustvo-livarjev.si 

Advertisers‘ Index 

AGTOS Gesellschaft für technische Oberflächensysteme 

mbH, Emsdetten/Germany 43 

ExOne GmbH, Gersthofen/Germany 33 

Jasper Gesellschaft für Energiewirtschaft 

und Kybernetik mbH, 

Geseke/Germany 

Front Cover 

O.M.LER S.r.l., Bra (CN)/Italy 37 

Optris GmbH, Berlin/Germany 23 

Yxlon International GmbH, 

Hamburg/Germany 

Back Cover 

FENAF/CONAF 2021 

September, 17-21, 2021, Sao Paolo, Brazil 

www.fenaf.com.br/en 

GIFA Southeast Asia 2021 

September, 22-24, 2021, Bangkok, Thailand 

www.gifa-southeastasia.com 

Aluminium World Trade Fair 

September, 28-30, 2021, Düsseldorf, Germany 

www.aluminium-exhibition.com/en-gb.html 

Fundiexpo Monterrey 2021 

September/October, 29-1, 2021, Monterey, Mexico 

https://fundiexpo2022.com/en 

Iron Melting Conference &Exhibition 

September, 28-29, 2021, Saarbrücken, Germany 

www.ironmelting.com 

58

PREVIEW/IMPRINT 

The KMA Ultravent system enables 

effective heat recovery and utilization. 

Photo: KMA 

Preview of the next issue 

Selection oftopics: 

L. Arenz: Best practice: High-performance heat recovery 

Pressure die casting foundry Stihl Magnesium Druckguss saves 85 % CO 2 

compared to conventional hall heating with aheat 

recovery system of KMA Umwelttechnik GmbH, Königswinter, Germany. 

P. Sonntag: Aring for eternity 

Rings are often casings. To solve ajewelry manufacturer’s casting problems, the gating for the ring was to be optimized. 

For this purpose, four different gating designs were analyzed with Magmasoft autonomous engineering. 

J. Vogt et al.: Slurry-based Additive Manufacturing of Casting Cores 

Additive Manufacturing (AM) allows for the production of complex casting cores e.g. made from sand. Especially the Binder 

Jetting technique enables aproduction in an efficient way. 

Imprint 

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ISSN 0935-7262

CLEAR 

VIEW 

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CPT International 02/2021

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