Archive > Casting Technology > November-February 2011

CASTING TECHNOLOGY November-December 2010 & January-February 2011 Issue

A Complete Global Publication on Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Foundries

Special Feature

Study on Solidification Behaviour of LM6 Castings by Using Computer Aided Simulation Software

EDITOR'S COMMENT

Non-ferrous metals & foundry sectors to shine in coming years
The government has released the Union Budget for the fiscal 2011-12. The Budget move towards a more transparent and result oriented economic management system in India.

SPECIAL COVERAGE

• Study on Solidification Behaviour of LM6 Castings by Using Computer-Aided Simulation Software+

  Method layout of a casting is an important aspect of tooling development. It involves decisions regarding part orientation in mould, parting line, cores, cavity layout, feeders, neck and gating system. An improper method layout leads either to poor quality or low yield, which affects the productivity. Method design is mostly carried out manually, using 2D drawing of the cast part. Then, tooling fabricates the sample castings, which undergo 3-4 trials, which involves lot of production cost in the farm of wastage of manpower, time and hamper the day-to-day schedule of the particular production. Computer simulation provides a clear insight regarding the location and extent of internal defects, ensuring right casting as first time and every time.

NEWS CORNER

• Bradken announces expansion plan

  Bradken, Newcastle, Australia, announced to spend 18.1 million dollars to expand the capacity and capabilities of its Amite, La., metalcasting facility. The Amite facility manufactures and machines large steel castings for several industries, including mining, construction, dredge, marine, and oil and gas.

• Optima Group acquires CC Metals and Alloys

  Optima Group LLC has acquired CC Meatls and Alloys LLC, the largest producer and supplier of specialty ferroalloys to the global iron foundry industry.

• Electrosteel Castings signs JV deal with Dart Energy

  Electrosteel Castings, one of the principal manufacturers of elastic iron pipes used in transportation of water, has signed a Joint Venture deal (JV) with Dart Energy intended for degassing its captive Parbatpur coal mine situated in the Jharia basin of the Jharkhand, India.

• Forgemasters' quality eclipses competition

  Manufacturing quality has won Sheffield Forgemasters a large American steel castings order, securing re-entry into an existing geographic market and beating off competition from Asia.

• Laforo Iron Foundry obtains Productivity Optimization Funding

  Laforo Iron Foundry having its headquarters in Sainte- Claire, Quebec has obtained $330,000 as Productivity Optimization Funding from the Canada Economic Development program, being a part of its Business and Regional Growth program.

• Harvey Industries acquires R.E. Phelon Company

  Harvey Industries, a holding company with operations producing aluminium and iron castings, machined and assembled parts, and polymer injection moldings, has acquired the diecasting operations of R.E. Phelon Company Inc., Aiken, South Carolina.

• ME Global in expansion mode

  ME Global Inc., Minneapolis, is to invest around $23.4 million for the expansion programme at its metalcasting facilities in Duluth, Minn., and Tempe, Ariz.

FOCUS

• No Turkey, yet ferrous exports showcase strong magnitude

  Turkey has been absent within the domain of export regarding ferrous scrap from U.S. for some time, yet, sales to the steelmakers in the Mediterranean and the Far East persist on a stable path.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

• Correlating Fracture Toughness and Texture in Cast and Annealed Al-6Mg Alloy with Minor Additions of Scandium and Zirconium

  Deformation of Al-Mg alloys is suitable for structural applications where corrosion resistance is important. The effect of trace addition of scandium and zirconium has been investigated by using XRD and transmission electron microscopy. Texture and fracture toughness of Al-Mg-Sc and Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys of varying compositions annealed at 300°C were investigated. It has been found that scandium modifies the microstructure of Al-Mg alloy and considerably improves the fracture toughness property of the alloy at the temperature of interest when deformation becomes homogeneous due to coarsening of Al3Sc precipitates. Addition of Zr increases the fracture toughness value even further.

• Realisation of Lightweight Machine Tool Components by Modern Foundry Technology

  Several Machine tool components are cast metals made in foundries. They are generally of grey cast iron with some alloying, and in some cases Spheroidal Graphitic iron. Historically, machine tools like any other machine might have been fabricated in steel with a number of cross-ribs for stiffness, and eventually the foundries were asked to duplicate the prototype in Iron. Now, in order to optimise the weight of components, it is important to re-evaluate the design inputs in terms of the various static and dynamic loads, and simultaneously work with foundries and review the characteristics of cast metals in terms of their strength, yield, ductility, hardness, wear resistance, fatigue properties, castability, reliability of foundry process etc. The paper reviews a range of metals including metal foams and recommends a structured concurrent engineering process between foundryman and designer to realise lightweight cast components.

• Mechanism of In-situ Reinforcement Formation in Fabrication of AA6061-TiB2 Metal Matrix Composite

  Aluminium matrix composites are attracting many researchers due to its superior properties like high specific modulus, stiffness, hardness, wear resistance and strength. However, the mechanical properties of the aluminium alloy are adversely affected by the presence of the coarse reinforcement particle, microstructural heterogeneity and a non-uniform distribution of particles. The composites synthesised using the in-situ techniques can eliminate these limitations. Fine and small-size particle entrapment in the matrix-reinforcement interface helps in the formation of stronger interfacial bond. TiB2 is a refractory compound that exhibits high melting point, hardness, modulus and elevated strength. Flux-assisted synthesis is an economic method to produce the Al-TiB2 in-situ composite. However, the commercial application of this composite requires lot of understanding on the mechanism of in-situ reaction. An attempt has been made to investigate the mechanism of in-situ reaction in production of AA6061-TiB2 metal matrix composite.

REFRACTORY

Some Way for Improving Steel Quality in Tundish

Continuous casting has gradually replaced ingot casting over the years, reaching 50% of the annual crude steel production in Japan by 1978, in Italy and former West Germany by 1980, in Korea by 1982, in the U.K. by 1984, and in the U.S.A. by 1986. Large ingots for forgings and small lot production of diverse grades of steel are still produced by ingot casting. Great effort has been devoted no improving the surface and internal quality of continuously cast products to obtain a higher premium cast-metal yield. At the same time, continuous casting productivity was increased substantially to keep pace with the increasing raw steel production capacity. Currently, well over 95% of carbon steels and speciality steels are produced through continuous casting.

TECHNOLOGY/PROCESS REVIEW

• Modification of Al-Si Alloys by Heat Treatment

  Modification of eutectic silicon in a hypoeutectic Al-5Si alloy and a hypereutectic Al-15Si alloy has been attempted by isothermal heat treatment at 560°C (below eutectic temperature) and 600°C (above eutectic temperature). Isothermal heat treatment at 560°C resulted in fragmentation, spheroidisation and clustering of silicon particles in both the alloys. Isothermal treatment at 600°C resulted in globularisation of the a-Al phase in Al-5Si alloy and modification of only eutectic silicon in Al-15Si alloy.

COMPANY REPORT

Sunoco posts Q4 2010 results

Sunoco, Inc. posted net income of $87 million ($0.72 per share) for the fourth quarter of 2010 as compared to net income of $26 million ($0.22 per share) for the same quarter of the year ago.

SEMINAR & CONFERENCE

2nd Minerals & Metals Summit-2011, Bhubaneswar

In the mineral map of India, the state of Odisha occupied an important place in terms of both deposit and production. India is abundantly rich in mineral resources and has a long history of mining, mineral production and mineral utilization. Odisha, the major state of India, is endowed with vast mineral resources and produces minerals, which includes non-metallic, metallic and fuel minerals.