Opportunities for Foundries and Casting Manufacturers to Save Time and Money

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOUNDRIES
The processes of casting metal in foundries were first documented in the Middle Ages for the production of bronze and iron bells, canons, and cannon balls. Thereafter, the metal casting industry grew to supply the demand of expanding towns and cities, for which more advanced and stronger tools were developed.

Nowadays, foundries continue to play a vital role in the development of critical parts and components used in the automotive and aerospace industries, such as car and truck transmissions and aircraft engines, to name just a few. Consequently, these major industries rely on metal castings produced in foundries.

Although the process of casting molten metal into a mold was developed a long time ago, foundries must continue to optimize their processes and remain attentive to new technologies in order to push forward the development of better castings. Their clients are aware that poor castings will have a serious impact on the reliability of manufactured goods used by a majority of consumers around the world.

THE CASTING PROCESS
A foundry is the factory where metal castings are produced. The general steps involved in the casting process are patternmaking, molding, melting metal, pouring liquid metal into a mold, then removing the mold material after the metal has solidified, cleaning and fettling the casting, and, finally, inspecting the casting.

The final casting shape corresponds with the mold it is poured into, so molds are carefully shaped with a pattern—a wax, wood, plastic, or metal replica of the object to be cast. The mold is constructed using different operations depending on the type of foundry, metal to be poured, quantity of parts to be produced, size of the casting, and complexity of the casting.

Among castings, die casting is a modern technique developed to improve the quality of casting finish and the dimensional consistency. Die casting is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. Because manufacturing die casting is relatively simple, production cost per item is low, making this process specifically suited for a large quantity of small- to medium-sized castings.

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