Advantages of Die Castings Over Plastic Components

A highly preferred casting method among manufacturers and designers, die casting is an efficient and economical process that offers several advantages for creating parts and components. Because of these advantages, die casting becomes an obvious choice when selecting a manufacturing process for a specific part. However, sometimes the designers must compare the benefits of die casting over other methods, such as plastic injection molding.

A major advantage of die casting over plastic components is that die casting makes stronger parts with closer tolerances, which have higher stability and durability. Die cast components are also known for their superior temperature resistance and electrical properties.

Another thing that is adding value in favor of die castings is that the continuous increase in the prices of oils is having a considerable impact on the price of plastic feed stocks used in manufacturing components. With continuously increasing crude oil prices, the prices of plastic components produced from oil feedstock are bound to increase as well.

Advantages of Die Casting

Although both die casting and plastic injection molding are high-speed manufacturing processes, die casting offers several advantages over plastic components, including-

Strength, weight and heat tolerance – These primary metal characteristics favor die castings over plastic components for a variety of applications. Die cast components are stronger than plastic injection moldings of same dimensions. In addition, the variety of choices available for zinc, aluminum and magnesium alloys allow designers to select materials, which can be used in high temperature conditions.

Dimensional Accuracy & Stability – Die casting process creates parts, which are durable and dimensionally stable, while retaining close tolerances. Plastic components are more susceptible to warping and surface sinking in regions above ribs is far more common. Several die casting alloys also offer better creep resistance.

Multiple Finishing Techniques - Die cast components can be created with smooth & textured surfaces, and can be easily plated or finished with a minimum of surface penetration. Components can be cast with lettering or ornamentation, which allows finer details and higher resistance to wear than plastic parts. In addition, as die casting creates complex shapes within closer tolerances, little or no machining is needed.

Recyclability – According to reports, more than 95% of aluminum die castings manufactured in North America are produced from post consumer recycled aluminum. As the production of recycled aluminum alloy needs less energy than producing the alloy directly from ore or other techniques, there is a significant conservation of non-renewable energy resources. More than 85% of aluminum in a car is presently reclaimed and recycled, while most of the plastic in a scrapped vehicle is considered as a fluff and is sent to waste dumps.

EASTPO 2008 - 10th Shanghai International Machine Tool Fair

World's largest consumer of machine tools – China, hosted the 10th edition of the premier manufacturing technology show in Shanghai, the eastern city of the country. The event was held from 9th July to 12th July in the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) and by seeing the overwhelming response of the exhibitors and visitors, experts are considering it has a huge success.

The event, which has been successfully held for 9 years, plays a crucial role in introducing international cutting-edge technologies to China and accelerating the internationalization of Chinese machine tool manufacturers. The 2nd largest machine tool fair in China, EASTPO serves as a platform for exhibitors to show their state-of-the- art products and as window for visitors to keep abreast with the latest developments of industry. And most important of all, the event opens new perspectives on the future of industry for visitors and exhibitors alike.


Exhibitor Profile
Exhibitors from the different segments of machine tools industry participated in the event, including -

• CNC metal cutting machine
• CNC metal forming machinery
• Fabrication equipment
• Non-traditional processing machinery
• Material handling equipment
• Foundry machinery
• Heat treatment equipment
• Welding equipment
• Other related manufacturing technology and equipment

Industry Focus
General Industrial Equipment , General Mechanical Components , Manufacturing & Processing Machinery , Measurement & Analysis Instruments , Tools

Products and Services Focus
Machine Tool, Machinery, Tools

Advantage for Visitors

• Keep updated with the latest technology and productivity innovations in manufacturing
• Interact with experts from across the world who can provide solutions to your manufacturing needs and challenges
• Gain valuable knowledge and information from seminars focused on improving production efficiencies
• Meet suppliers who can help grow your business
• Get sophisticated technologies and ideas for the future

Venue
Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC)
Rm1201, Greenland Business Center, 1258 Yuyuan Road, Shanghai, China-200 050
Phone: 86 - 21 - 52396593
Fax: 86 - 21 - 51010002
Website - www.en.eastpo.net/
Email - eastpo.net@gmail.com

Buying Tips - Cast Metal Components

Cast metal components are not products, which are generally bought out from market; most often they are custom made objects, designed and engineered to meet the specific requirements of a particular customer. As such, we can say that cast components high value and high volume commodity items, where price is the main buying criterion.


Cast components are considered as high-value manufacturing products, where the production facility (foundry) is an extension of the manufacturing capability of buyer that involves long-term relationships and open, on-going communication at different stages. Since these are considered as high value products, the buying criteria for cast metal components involve a fine balance of quality, cost, service and delivery.

According to experts and OEM component buyers, properly formulated buying policy is fundamental to the "best-value" procurement of cast metal products. The buying policy should specify the buyer-partnership, and is based on the following principles:

• Long-term partnerships based on shared interests and optimal value for concerned parties.
• Reliable cast component suppliers who are capable to meet the standards of production quality, supply on time, offer knowledge and expertise to facilitate component design and improvement and offer best price and value.
• Open and uninterrupted communication at different levels including executive, purchasing and technical levels to facilitate concurrent engineering/design, design for production and regular improvement.

Improve Induction Melting With Gas Diffusers

Also known as porous plugs, gas diffusers have been used for many years in ladles to enable gas purging of steel melts before streaming the metal into molds. The purging process degasses the melt and makes cleaner steel that results in a repressed scrap rate in castings.

According to experts, the proper use of gas diffusers provides a variety of benefits in induction melting. These include reduced scrap rates, more efficient melt, and a considerable improvement in furnace operational life.

For safe and effective functioning of a gas diffuser, several factors have to be taken into account. The chosen refractory material should be able to withstand penetration when in touch with liquid metals. The gas diffuser should be designed in a way so that it supplies little quantities of inert gas to the induction furnace melt in a controlled manner. The diffuser must also be compatible with the lining materials of the induction furnace. The diffuser must also be designed in a way so as to ensure easy installation, operation and long service life.

If possible, the diffuser must be fitted in the center of furnace base, or as close as possible to the center.

The furnace should have a gas supply to connect to the gas diffuser, and a there should be a proper gas-flow control arrangement. Such a system can be as simple as a pressure regulator on an argon-gas bottle with an inlet needle valve and flow meter; or as complex as a PLC package linked to a computer-controlled process control arrangement.

The induction furnace lining should be sintered before using the gas diffuser; this helps the gas to pass through the lining without disturbing it. In order to ensure proper sintering, gas diffusers should not be used early in the melting process. According to experts, best results can be obtained by bringing in the gas to the diffuser during the 3rd melt and onward.

Rapid Tooling - A Key to Production Improvement & Cost Savings

Rapid prototyping is fast emerging as a preferred manufacturing method among global manufacturers to bring products faster to the market. As a part of this process, manufacturers are using varied tooling methods to design pre-production models, limited parts of production runs, and even production quality tools of the rapid prototyping process. Die casters are using a variety of rapid tooling methods to produce pre-production models, limited runs of production parts and even production quality tools subject of running up to 100,000 parts in certain cases.

It was during the year 1980, when developments in rapid prototyping started with the help of computer aided design or animation modeling software. These tools were used to convert the virtual designs into cross-sections constituting the physical dimensions of the model. The procedure can be compared to that of a topographical model where the layers represent to the elevations in the model. The virtual model is then transformed into a real design through either additive or subtractive prototyping.

Additive Prototyping

In this method, the model is created by producing crosssections using sequential micrometer or millimeter-thick layers of liquid plastic, powdered plastic or any other engineering material. The normal interface between the CAD software and rapid prototyping machines is the STL (stereolithography) format that is similar to printing. The layers posited by the prototyping machine that fit to the virtual cross section from the CAD model, are fixed together or fused (often using a laser) to produce the final shape.

The main benefit of additive prototyping is its capability to create almost any shape, except trapped negative spaces.

Substractive Prototyping
Substractive prototyping is a conventional method of rapid tooling that is used create a die tool. In place of machning the steel in the tempered condition and afterwards heat treating it, pre-hardened steel used. The process helps in shortening lead time. Sophisticated cutting tools provide for machining of steels up to 40-42HRC. Die life can increase from a few thousand shots to tens of thousands, which depends on configuration of the part.

The primary advantage of subtractive process is its ability to create very accurate tools with superior surface finish.

Advantages of Rapid Tooling

Some of the important advantages of rapid tooling are -

• Variety of tooling methods for unique and specific requirements
• Designs can be quickly transformed from prototype to production
• Rapid tooling cuts production time
• Possible to create complex designs
• Economical

Modern Metals – A Leading Publication for Metal fabricators, Service Centers and OEM's

A name of trust in the metal casting world, Modern Metals is a monthly publication serving the medical service centers, OEMs and fabricators. Each issue of the magazine presents the different facets of the ever changing process of a metals' journey from the mill to the ORM / end user. The non biased approach of the editorial board of the magazine presents a clear and balanced picture of the metalworking industry.

The landscape of the metals industry is shifting at a pace faster than ever. Rapidly increasing global competition, integration, distribution and new technological developments are acting as the forces of change in the industry. With constantly evolving and expanding global metal industry, Modern Metals magazine help the readers stay ahead in the business by featuring latest news and issues, metal processes, technological developments and industry trends.

Unlike other vertical or niche industry publications that tend to focus on a particular aspects or the audience within metal industry; Modern Metals magazine features articles that take readers through an ever-changing process of a metal's journey from the mill to the OEM/end-user. The publication stresses the important role that metal service centers play, along with the fabricating and forming stages.

International Journal of Metal casting – Driving the Research & Technology for the Global Metal Casting Industry...

A renowned name in the field of global metal casting industry, International Journal of Metal casting (IJMC) is a quarterly publication of the American Foundry Society (AFS). The publication keeps track of the latest news and issues, technological research and developments, happenings and events of the metal casting industry.

Paper Types:
The magazine publishes technical papers and reports in 4 extensive categories -

• Technical Papers
• Technical Development Reports
• Technical Communication
• Technical Update

Paper Review
All the papers released in the journal are sanctioned only after a rigorous peer review process. The editorial peer review board comprises 3 international metal casting groups that include -

• Academia (metal casting professors)
• Science and Research (professionals from national labs, research and scientific institutions)
• Industry (leading technical personnel from metal casting facilities)

Tool to Determine Casting Alloys & Processes

Casting buyers generally seek professional advice and help to make a decision between different types of casting alloys or processes. Experts cannot make choices for them but can only provide information, which will help the buyers to make an informed decision. However, the information required to make an informed decision is huge and with the variety of ways available to design a casting, the decision process can be very difficult.

In collaboration with American Foundry Society, Product Development & Analysis LLC has developed a tool to help casting buyers and designers determine which particular alloy and casting process suits best to their specific metal casting designs. This tool is known as Casting Alloy & Process Selector (CAPS) Tool . The casting buyer is just required to enter the basic data about the metal (if available - weight, alloy, wall thickness, surface finish, production volume), and the tool will present the different casting process.

The tool gives the results on the basis of data, facts and information stored in it and provides industry averages that cannot be considered absolute. Though the tool helps the casting buyers and designers to narrow down their choices, the user should contact the manufacturer for specific as different manufacturers have different capacities

New Manufacturing Methods : Expected to Cut Down the Cost of Titanium Alloys

Ever since the introduction of titanium and its alloys in the mid of 20th century, these metals have become critical materials for uses in aerospace, energy and chemical industries. Titanium and its alloys combine properties, such as high strength-to-weight ratio, superior mechanical properties and corrosion resistance that makes them an ideal choice for a multitude of critical applications.

Today, the titanium alloys are used in highly demanding applications, including the static and rotating gas turbine engine parts. Titanium alloys are also used to design some of the most critical and highly stressed civilian and military airframe components. Though highly preferred metal choice for such critical applications titanium alloys tend to be too expensive and this limits their widespread use in industrial applications.

However, improved manufacturing techniques and processes are in development stage that are expected to reduce the prohibitively high cost of titanium alloys. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and industry partners are working progressively to formulate a new and innovative non-melt consolidation process. This new technique is expected to cut down the amount of energy and cost required to produce titanium alloy parts and components by upto 50%. The process will make it viable to use titanium alloys for a multitude of engineering applications, including armor for military vehicles.

Recently, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory used new low cost titanium alloys to design a door for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which is a next-generation combat vehicle. While the main purpose of the use of titanium alloy door was to reduce the weight of the vehicle, it also provided the benefit of decreasing the threat of armor – piercing rounds. Light in weight, the titanium alloy door also enhanced the functioning of door and cut down the overall weight and the fuel efficiency of vehicle, thereby making it even more beneficial for the military and industrial applications.

According to experts, the non-melt approach that comprises roll compaction for directly fabricating sheets from powder, press and sinter techniques to create exact near net shape components and extrusion, provides several benefits over conventional melt processing.

While titanium powder is used to design products in the traditional melt processing method, the powder remains in its solid form during the entire process. This saves a vast amount of energy required for processing, cuts down the amount of scrap by a great amount and allows for new alloys and engineered composites.

Though powder metallurgy has been used to design parts and components for several years, the process is generally not used to fabricate titanium products because of the high cost of traditional titanium powders. New low cost titanium powders are now allowing the researchers to formulate these technologies for titanium.

In coming years, researchers expect the introduction of lightweight corrosion-resistant titanium alloys into several other products, including automobiles that will benefit from the reduced weight and will be able to provide better fuel efficiency.

Rising Electronic Waste: Dangers & Solutions

Majority of people don't know what happens to their old electronic gadgets when they throw them out of their homes. Considering the fact that these waste electronic gadgets contain both the toxic chemicals as well as valuable metals you'd think someone would know this? As a matter of fact, however, the fate of millions of tons of e-waste produced each year is mostly unknown.

As the electronic products are becoming cheaper day by day, people generally prefer to replace them instead of fixing them. As a result of this, the amount of old electronics, or e-waste, such as computers, TVs and phones being discarded every year is increasing vastly and in some countries it is the fastest growing type of waste.

With electronic products rapidly becoming a part of throw away culture in several developed countries, the amount of e-waste generated has increased significantly while the solutions have often lagged far behind. Even in the European Union (EU), which has set stricter regulations, about 75% of e-waste is unaccounted for. On an estimate, of the 8.7 million tonnes of e-waste that is generated every year in EU, a vast amount of 6.6 million tonnes of waste is not recycled.

In the United States, there is very little regulation regarding e-waste. Less than 20% of e-waste is collected in the country for recycling. Among these, the recycling percentages for PCs (10 %) and TVs (14 %) are even lower. The impending shift to digital TVs in the US and in other countries will result in a vast increase in the amount of excess analogue TVs.

Even from the 20% of scrap that is collected in the United States, most is exported to the developing nations in Asia and Africa and that is a warning signal.

The vast amount of e-waste that is not recycled can be attributed to -

• Storage: Normally people used to keep their waste electronic products stored in the house for a long time and this leads to the delay these products are ultimately discarded and slims the chances they could be properly recycled.
• Landfill/Incineration: When electronic products are mixed with domestic waste, they are most likely to end up in a landfill or incinerated. Both these methods cause the toxic chemicals present in e-wastes to pollute the environment.
• Reuse and Export: Majority of the old computers and phones are traded to developing nations for reuse and recycling. Most of these are crudely recycled in e-waste scrap yards making widespread pollution.

Technology Divide
Countries like China and India have long been the destinations for dumping of e-waste by unethical traders looking to make quick bucks on e-waste from the western countries. Now even the amount of e-waste generated in these countries is growing fast. In India only 1% of e-waste is recovered for authorized recycling.

Several informal recycling yards have opened up across Asia & Africa that utilize primitive methods to recover valuable metals from scrap. These recycling plants lack in modern technology and use methods that create huge environmental pollution and health risks for the workers.

Even properly ordered and well intent shipments of computers for reprocessing are being ill-treated. According to traders in Ghana, they have to accept junk electronic products in return for a shipping container with a few working computers. The junk products and even the working computers ultimately end up dumped in Ghana, as the country has no infrastructure to recycle toxic e-waste.

Solutions
In my opinion, the problem of e-waste scrap cannot be tackled until the governments, product makers and the consumers all come together to address the issue.

It is the governments' responsibility to make tighter regulations regarding the proper use and disposal of electronic products. It is also the duty of the governments' to prevent the unauthorized export and import of e-waste in their respective countries.

The problem can be significantly reduced if the major electronics companies work to eliminate the harmful toxic chemicals from their products and improve their recycling programs. After generating great demand for their latest mobile phones, sleek laptops and making huge profits from the sale of electronic products, it becomes the moral duty of these electronics companies to take steps to reduce electronic scrap and fight pollution.

To handle the rapidly increasing amounts of e-waste, all manufacturers should offer free and convenient recycling of their goods to all their clients. Where companies are not willing to do this, strict legislation is required to ensure the safe recycling of waste recycling products.

At last, consumers can play their part in e-waste reduction and safe recycling by timely returning their used electronic products to scrap recyclers.

Reducing Zinc Contaminants is Critical to the Success of Die Castings

Manufacturers prefer zinc alloys for a variety of applications that range from small electrical connectors to automotive parts and decorative components. According to a research study, the global consumption of zinc casting alloys is more than one million metric tons.

Zinc alloys are used in casting applications because of their mechanical characteristics, electrical conductivity, dimensional accuracy and machinability. Functional components are manufactured keeping in mind the stable mechanical properties over the design life of part, along with good dimensional precision. Metals for decorative components are chosen depending on their ability to maintain good corrosion resistance over a variety of exposure conditions. Many castings are designed with both functional as well as decorative attributes, however these characteristics may be vitiated if the zinc alloy is contaminated. For instance, high level of lead may cause intergrannular corrosion during plating works.

The presence of tin, lead, cadmium and antimony at a level higher than the permissible limits can adversely affect the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of zinc castings.

Both die casting manufacturers and alloy producers are agreeing on the need to improve purity levels by adopting advance processes and sophisticated technology. In recent years, however, several instances of out-of-specification imported castings have been reported. According to experts, these instances are related to the hand sorting of scrap used to produce secondary alloy. Presence of little tin and lead can have significant impact on the purity of zinc alloys.

Presence of tin and lead in zinc alloys can be attributed to several factors, including - solder leftovers and bronze bushings, which are not separated from the secondary feed. Latest technology separation, alloying and alloy analysis methods can be used to rule out the risk of contamination of ingots, however, these must be carefully followed to ensure the supply of in-specification product.

Affect of Impurities
Though tin is considered as the most harmful impurity for zinc alloys, the presence of lead, cadmium and antimony at levels higher than permissible limits can also badly affect the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of zinc alloys. In addition, when these impurities coexist in the contaminated alloy, their effects can get compounded. These impurities act as microscopic-size cathodes, finely diffused throughout the alloy along its grain boundaries and reduce the properties of zinc alloys. The zinc alloys generally corrodes at these areas.

Quality Control Procedures
To avoid zinc contaminants and to ensure the production of successful die castings, the zinc alloy producers needs to take several steps, including -

• Use only certified special high grade zinc in their manufacturing. This eliminates the risk of lead, cadmium and tin contamination.
• Each lot of zinc and die casting alloy must be produced as per the ISO 9001:2002 documented norms and procedures, which include different assays of the molten material during pouring off of the heats.
• Track and identify the likely harmful sources of contaminant, including customer returned scrap for reclaim.

Die casters can also ensure the quality of alloys that they use by procuring their raw materials from reliable suppliers and receiving certification for the purity of alloy purchased. It is also important for the buyers, designers and specifiers of zinc die castings to look up to a recognized standard, such as ASTM B86 or EN 12844, on all drawings and purchase orders.

Metal Recycling – Fueling the Global Manufacturing Supply Chain

Metal recycling companies recycle more than 81.4 million tons of iron and steel, 1.8 million tons of copper, 4.5 million tons of aluminum and around 1.4 million tons of stainless steel every year.
Companies involved in metal recycling transform these otherwise wasted resources into the raw materials, which fuel the manufacturing supply chain, supporting the world economy, trade and contribute to resource sustainability.

Part of a $65 billion industry, metal recyclers process ferrous metals, such as steel and iron—the most recycled metals - recovered from scrapped cars, appliances, buildings and bridges; non-ferrous metals, such as copper, brass, bronze, aluminum, zinc, magnesium and lead that are found in various things, including building materials, to beverage containers, and in waste electronic equipment; and precious metals, such as - gold, silver and platinum, also found in electronic equipment and computers.

Metal recycling is a hi-tech industry industry that employs tens of thousands of employees to convert discarded metals into useful economic commodities.

Some of the Most Recycled Metal Products -
Metals can be recycled again and again to produce useful raw materials. Though all types of metals can be recycled, aluminum and steel are most recycled. Some of the most recycled aluminum and steel products are -

Aluminum

• Soda cans
• Appliances
• Auto parts
• Windows
• Doors

Steel

• Tin Cans
• Auto parts
• Bridge parts
• Appliances
• Torn-down buildings

These waste metal products can be used to produce new car parts and building structures, thus helping our economy and sustaining earth's natural resources.

Advantages of Metal Recycling
It makes sense to use recycling to convert discarded metal products into useful raw materials rather than continuously depleting the earth's natural resources. Some of the important advantages of metal recycling are -

• Less energy required to melt down a waste metal and recycle it than it does to produce new metal.
• Use of recycled metals reduces CO2 emissions and air pollution.
• Less land and water pollution.
• Decreases environmental damage caused by mining.
• Metals can be recycled over and over again.
• Metal recyclers pay you for your scrap.

11 Effective Design Tips to Improve the Performance of Your Castings

While designing castings, the most important thing to consider is the effect of shrinkage during cooling. Some other critical factors include the flow of metal and porosity.

Some general casting design rules are -

• Avoid sharp corners - they may result in hot tearing during cooling.
• Fillets should be used with care – they lead to stresses as they shrink. Radius in the range of 1/8” to 1” is acceptable.
• Use uniform cross sections – they keep the cooling rate relatively uniform and keep off stresses.
• Avoid internal features – they require additional steps in mold making and may cause problems in metal flow.
• Place parting line near corners – they will hide the flash.
• Use straight parting lines wherever possible – It makes the mold making easier.
• Avoid large flats - large flat areas tend to deflection.
• Machining Allowances - allow excess material for later machining of critical dimensions.
• Use a draft angle - A small angle of 0.5-2° on the vertical walls makes it easier to remove the pattern.
• In the designing of cast shapes, an understanding of finished part dimensional prerequisites is essential to attain near net dimensions at most economical cost. The designers should apply as high a tolerance as possible.
• Fix geometric tolerances, like profile of a surface for complex blended surfaces.

And most important of all, consult and work with your casting manufacturer to improve the performance, effectiveness and quality of your casting designs.

Best Designs of Cast Expo '08

The Cast Expo'08 recognized the most effective and innovative cast designs developed during the last year. Nine cast components were selected as the best designs of the year by the 2008 Engineered Casting Solutions and AFS Casting Competition. The AFS nominated an overall winner, 4 Best-in-Class winners, and 4 honorable mentions.

An oil tank for Harley Davidson, developed by the Carley Foundry Inc. in Blaine, MN, was named as the winning product. The product houses and circulates oil across the new Harley Rocker’s operating system, and it is a critical element of the cycle’s cosmetic look. The product was cast in A356-T6 aluminum using semi-permanent molding and weighs 9.25 lbs. In addition to its aesthetically pleasing design, it provides superior heat resistance than the available options — a plastic design and a multi-piece fabrication.

Contech Wins Twice in the International Die Casting Competition'08
A division of Marathon Automotive Group, Contech U.S., won two awards in the 2008 International Die Casting Competition, sponsored by the North American Die Casting Association. It is an annual competition that acknowledges outstanding castings depending on their design, effectiveness, cost savings, ingenuity, innovation, and the potential to change industry trends.

A rear knuckle component for the Jaguar XK8 was named the winner of Aluminum, Squeeze/ Semi-Solid award. It was a large, complex component designed using Contech’s P2000 squeeze casting method. This is the 3rd consecutive year that Contech has won the award in this category, and the 5th time since 2001.

It won the 2nd award under the “Aluminum Die Casting under 1 lb.” category, for a rear-axle thrust rod designed for the BMW X5. Fully designed by Contech, the rod replaced a multiple-part steel assembly and provided about 50 % weight savings for the automaker.

Best in Class Winners

This is a material handling steering / linkage assembly designed by the Piad Precision Casting Corp. The component is a brass permanent-mold chill casting, which replaced a weldment that comprises of ten pre-fabricated pieces, nineteen weld joints, and four bushings.


Dotson Iron Castings has developed this agri-speed hitch, which is an assembly of austempered ductile iron and ductile-iron green sand castings, which was reverse-engineered from the customer’s weldment. The component has resulted in reduction of 30% in weight and 40% in cost.

This is a 124-lb. white iron no-bake sand casting, designed by the Castalloy Corp. for use as a static mixer tube. Conversion from a 7 piece fabrication, the component eliminates all assembly labor and allows the designers to incorporate strategic thickening of wear areas.



Designed by Denison Industries, this is a main transmission housing for a military contract, transforming a multi-piece assembly into a 200-lb casting. The component is designed using A356-T71 aluminum no-bake sand that eliminates tubing, hydraulic lines, and passageways.

Honorable Mentions:

This is a 21-lb multifunction bracket/towing eye designed for Volvo by Citation Columbiana. Developed using ductile-iron lost-foam casting process, the component eliminates the machining and heat treating required on earlier bracket designs.

Developed by General Motors & Diversified Machine, this component is a 33.5-lb. vacuum riserless/ pressure riserless casting designed to serve as an engine cradle for the Cadillac CTS. The casting was poured in A356 aluminum and welded to 4 aluminum extrusions to create the engine cradle.


This is an automotive aftermarket intake manifold designed by the Trilore Technologies. The component is a 13-lb. A356-T6 aluminum casting, converted from a plastic molding.


Eck Industries make use of the ablation process to design this 4.9-lb, A356-T6 aluminum rear motorcycle frame. The component provides improved mechanical properties in its thin sections.

Metal Prices Expected to Stay Higher for Longer

The prices of raw materials used in steel making, such as iron ore, coal and scrap metal are expected to keep on rising for many years, keeping pressure on manufacturers and consumers, said the chief of US steel maker Nucor Corp.

According to Mr. Dan DiMicco (the chairman, president & CEO of Nucor Corp.), “the bull run for commodities market will continue for decades to come and so the people need to get used to it”.

This can be seen from the market, where iron ore is up several hundred per cent, scrap prices are $600 (U.S.) to $700 per ton, pig iron is $900 per ton, and coal is escalating at an even fast pace. According to Mr. Dan DiMico, “raw materials, including scrap, will continue to see rise in prices”.

Earlier, Mr. John Surma (CEO – U.S. Steel Corp.) told Reuters that “high iron ore costs were pushing steel prices even greater and he warned that increasing demand is limiting miners' capacity to provide raw materials”.

Steel prices have surged around 50 percent this year and this can be attributed to continuously increasing raw material costs and the global demand.


Escalating Scrap
Nucor produces majority of its steel from scrap metal, the cost of which has increases twice than what it was last year and seventy percent more than 3 months ago.

Scrap is the primary feedstock for electric arc furnaces ran by mini-mill steel makers such as Nucor, while structured steel manufacturers such as U.S. Steel Corp. make their products in blast furnaces that use coking coal to melt iron ore.

Recently Nucor has moved to more secure supplies. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company is the biggest buyer of ferrous scrap in North America with aggregate scrap purchases of 22.8 million tons in 2007.

Earlier this year, the company paid $1.44-billion for scrap processor David J. Joseph Co. and recently acquired the assets of Galamba Metals Group that run 16 scrap-working facilities in Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas, and Metal Recycling Services Inc., established in Monroe, North Carolina.

According to Mr. DiMicco, the future looks bright for steel industry with increasing global demand, especially from China, India and other emerging economies. He compared the situation with that of the late 1940s and early '50s, when the industry was being reconstructed after the destruction of World War II.

5 Ways to Improve Die Performance

While selecting a die casting, designers generally think that tooling is not reliable or that short die life will affect production. Research & developments over the last decade, however, have proved that a variety of methods are available that can be used to improve die life, enhance the performance of die and reduce the overall cost-per-part.

The 5 key factors, which can extend die life are -

• Die Design
• Die Material
• Heat Treatment
• Coatings
• Operation / Maintenance

These factors can be adjusted and modified as per the requirement to improve the die performance anywhere from 50 % to nearly 100 %. This is a significant improvement in performance that typically outsets any further increase in cost for producing superior-quality, long-lasting tooling, making it a better choice than cheaper low quality tooling.

Judging Die Performance
In general, improved die performance results in more parts at a lesser cost. The 3 factors, which affect the tooling and limit the die performance are -

• Soldering and chemical attack between the die material and liquid metal.
• Wear & erosion.
• Heat checking or thermal fatigue occurring as a result of the thermal cycling, which takes place with each shot or casting cycle.

These factors can be eliminated or reduced to improve the die performance and reduce the overall costs.

Performance Improvement Ways -
The 5 key factors given here for the improvement of die performance are a beginning point for determining what combination of elements will have the highest impact on performance in a specific situation. As like there are several nuances within each performance improvement element, the particular steps, which will produce the best results will depend upon various factors, such as the die casting type (hot or cold chamber), the cast alloy, size of shot, or the wall of casting (thin wall or thick wall).

Die Design
For the improvement of tool life, the parts should always be designed with round edges or generous radii. Gate location is also a critical factor, as the control of metal flow in die cavity is a major factor in producing sound die castings. The metal must necessarily flow quickly and uniformly into the die, as it minimizes the sharp direction changes, which can result in premature tool wear.

Die Material
For majority of tool construction, casters generally prefer superior grade H13 tool steel as the starting point. However, many die casters nowadays, are realizing that the die life can be significantly improved by using modified versions of H11 steel, heat treated to a hardness level of 48 HRC. H11 has greater molybdenum content, with lower vanadium and silicon, facilitating greater toughness than H13, superior temper resistance, which improves the die life in demanding applications, such as - thick-walled castings.

Heat Treatment
Research have proved that heat treatment process is as critical in impacting the die life as the selection of the proper die steel. The thermal fatigue cracking can be greatly reduced by using an austenitizing temperature, which will place the optimum amount of carbide forming elements in solid solution in the austenite. When combined with a speedy quench rate, the toughness remains unaffected.

Coatings
Coating and/or surface treatment helps in improving the tool life by preventing the soldering and erosion between the tool steel and the liquid alloy being cast. Though surface modification techniques like ferritic nitrocarburizing and plasma ion nitriding also improve the die life, coatings generally provide better improvement.

Operations/Maintenance
As good design is the starting point in ensuring the long die life, proper operation and maintenance are critical to the overall success in improving the die performance. These include the die set up procedure, pre-heating tools and verifying clamping pressures. In case, a hard coating has been applied, the cleaning pressure needs to be changed to avoid damaging the coating.