Ingenuity, technological advancements and new researches are changing the face of metal casting world. The industry today, is more progressive, innovative, hi-tech, challenging, safe and clean. The industry formulate and apply the latest in computer based designing and simulation, energy-efficiency practices, and waste-minimization processes and technologies to improve its image and to combat allegations that it causes pollution and has a risky environment.
With fast changing environment and technology, the new products and markets are emerging and hence the demand for the cast metal components is expected to change in the future. It is important for the industry to anticipate emerging industry and consumer requirements and develop innovative products, which are superior in quality and competitively priced.
The industry will need new techniques and processes to design and create cast metal components, which satisfy the demanding material specifications of new products. It will going to be essential for the future viability of metal casting industry to learn how to meet the technical specifications and demands for new products and markets.
New technology research is going on in the field of metal casting with the objective of ensuring process improvements and technology innovations, including developments in lost foam casting, to computer-based visualization tools for die casters, to alternative means for molding.
The industry is working on several issues to demonstrate, evaluate, and accelerate new technologies and scientific insights, which treat various specific needs in the following general areas -
- Technology Identification - To identify technology applications, which will improve the process and material capabilities of the metal casting industry
- New technology Development - Develop new technology and products to meet the varying requirements and specifications of particular applications.
- Improve Production Efficiency - Improving production efficiency so as to control production cost, to limit exposure to fluctuating energy costs, and to design superior quality products.
- Application Development - To showcase the superior economic and technical advantages of different components when designed as castings.
- Process Control - To design and produce process control sensors, which assist in repeatable, quality product and decrease production costs.
- Recycling - To increase the amount of recycling and produce reuse for internal or external benefit.
- Pollution Control - To attain reduction in air and water emissions and to develop new technologies and methods to avoid pollution rather than control and treat it.
Types
New technology Research is generally conducted in three domains -
- Materials technology
- Manufacturing Technology
- Environmental Technology
Materials Technology
Research for new materials technology is conducted with the primary objectives of -
- Developing quantitative relationships between alloy chemistries, properties and processing.
- To establish standard methodologies for materials testing.
- To formulate a clean melting and remelting process.
- To design techniques and processes for fast, accurate, and non destructive evaluation of ingot and as-cast chemistries and properties.
- To design improved methods of measuring the acceptability of liquid metal prior to processing.
- To develop a rational initiative to promote interest in materials science and engineering.
Manufacturing Technology
Research for new manufacturing technology is conducted with the primary objectives of -
- To produce low-cost rapid tooling technology.
- To enhance the tooling design to cut-down the time to get the castings to market.
- To create economical and dimensionally accurate pattern making processes for use in sand casting.
- Enhance the capability to create size/dimension.
- To understand the folds for aluminum lost foam casting.
- To find out how die casting molds / dies actually fill.
- To establish a mathematical model, which describes process control and can control the machine.
Environmental Technology
Research for new environmental technology is conducted with the primary objectives of -
- To establish environmentally benign, dimensionally stable molding materials for sand casting.
- To formulate new uses for waste streams and/or new methods to treat wastes to make them more usable.
- To formulate and establish emissions database for foundries to use to educate regulators.