EDITOR'S COMMENT
Indian foundry industry needs to initiate some corrective steps immediately
Steel production in India has already crossed the 40 million tons (MT) mark. It is now even more poised for further achieving rapid growth in the years to come. Much of this capacity boost has been propelled by the growth in the automobile sector and a considerable boost also from the infrastructure and construction sectors. India is gradually emerging as a preferred destination for outsourcing of automobile components - both cast and wrought - for the world steel business map.
SPECIAL COVERAGE
Thermal distortion of green sand and chemically bonded sand at cast iron fill temperatures
Green sand and chemically bonded sand binder systems are both important parts of metal casting technology and their behavior together in contact with molten metal is critical to the production of near-net-shape green sand castings. The various test methods currently employed to measure heat induced thermo-mechanical change have not addresses the influence of green sand thermal distortion.
NEWS CORNER
- TATA Refractories invests Rs.37 crore for 1st Greenfield Manufacturing Unit in China
- Alcan pilots Advanced AP50 Technology through US$550 million facility
- Casting Output escalates at Coimbatore foundries: a potential exporter in the making
- Alcoa's Howmet's Ti-Cast wins 2006 Casting Contest Award
- BVQ1 awards Tata Refractories with Integrated Management System (IMS) certification
IN FOCUS
Partial replacement of cupola pig iron charge by sponge iron
The present investigation was undertaken to examine the feasibility of replacing a part of pig iron in the cupola charge by sponge iron. Sponge iron of 90% metalisation quality was used in the investigation. The limited objects of the investigation were ....
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Effect of some variables on properties of Green sand moulding in a ferrous foundry
A number of industries depend on castings of high reliability in a variety of shapes and alloys. A series of casting defects like cold shut, shrinkage, sand drop, slag inclusions, blows, porosity box shift, high hardness and poor surface finish are observed in the castings manufactured by the green sand moulding process. These defects are mainly durf to the sand.
Rotary furnace : Effects lof rotational speed on rate of melting, fuel consumption and pollution
The rotary furnace is very simple melting unit consisting mainly of a drum of required size having a cone on each side lined with refractory, fire bricks or ramming mortar generally having alumina as a constituent. The drum is placed on rollers so that they may be either locked or slowly rotated about their central axis.
TECHNOLOGY/PROCESS REVIEW
Studies on Corrosion Characteristics of Austempered Ductile Iron
In the present investigation, ductile iron casting conforming to IS400/12 grade were produced using green sand moulds. The castings were then subjected to standard austempering heat treatment cycle to effect changes in the microstructure and hence the properties.
It was found that the specimens austempered for 120 minutes indicate well-defined needle-like baintic matrix and also austempered specimens exhibit lower weight loss, lower corrosion rate compared to the ascast specimens.
FOUNDRY APPLICATION
Development of a new ferrous aluminosilicate refractory material for investment casting of aluminium alloys
Investment casting is a time-consuming, labour intensive process, which produces complex, high value added / components for a variety of specialised industries. Aluminium silicate based refractories are commonly used as both filter and stucco materials for ceramic shell production. Environmental and economic pressures, however, have resulted in a need for the industry to improve current casting quality, reduce manufacturing costs and explore new markets for the process.
EVENTS
Some of the Upcoming industry events
Xth Commonwealth Study Conference
"Working together for Inclusive Growth and Development"
March 16-29, 2007, New Delhi
Three tier conference programme :
• Opening plenary sessions - sharing the dreams and aspirations of leaders in Business and Politics
• 14 study tour groups of young leaders who would visit 9 locations in India, 3 in Malaysia and 2 in Singapore
• Report Back Sessions - sharing the learning's and charting future growth
Email: rekha.sethi@ciionline.org
Engineering Expo 2007
India's industrial trades fair on products and technologies from machine tools, fluid power, instrumentation & control, material handling, packaging, CAD/CAM, auto components, general engineering etc.
March 22-25, 2007
College of Engineering Ground, Pune
India
Phone: +91 22 24232829
Email: engdexpo@infomediaindia.com
MTA 2007 - Metal Asia
17th International Exhibition and Conference on Precision engineering, Machine Tools and Metal working technology
March 28-31, 2007
Singapore Expo, Singapore
Phone: +65 67386776
Email: events@seaallworld.com
GIFA, METEC, Thermprocess and Newcast 2007
June 12-16, 2007
The world's biggest technology fairs (Quartet) along with Congresses, trade symposia, seminars, technical forums etc.
Dusseldorf Exhibition Ground, Germany
More information available from:
www.gifa.de, www.metec.de, www.thermprocess.de and www.newcast-online.de
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IRON & STEEL REVIEW