Eastern U.S. Foundrymen Gather to Battle Production Problems.

With the historic Civil War battlefield serving as a backdrop for the AFS East Coast Regional Conference, nearly 150 foundry officials gathered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on October 8-10 to learn about how to bolster their casting production techniques. With 14 speakers covering topics that ranged from treatment alloy advancements to Y2K planning issues, Gettysburg was an inspiring location for the foundry gathering, as numerous challenges have put the North American foundry industry at a turning point as it enters the next millennium.

Gating & Risering

In one presentation, Foseco's Tony Suschil focused on the AFS Aluminum Gating & Risering Committee's search for the "state of the art" in aluminum gating and risering. He discussed the commonly expressed "rule of '57" that many foundries follow: "That is, 'if Uncle Stanley didn't do it that way in 1957, we aren't going to start doing it now.'"

Talking of the projects initiated by the committee to understand aluminum casting variables and their unknown effects, he said, "if the beginning of wisdom is recognizing what we don't know, we're getting very wise very quickly." He did say, however, that greater understanding has been achieved on several fronts and noted that the following trends have begun appearing in a significant way:

Chill Fins--Promoted by Britain's Dr. John Campbell, this old technique is now getting a new life due to better understanding, said Suschil. By placing cooling fins right onto the mold, foundries are beginning to utilize this technique to eliminate the inconsistencies and other production headaches that can ensue with the use of chill blocks.

Filters--Filters, he said, truly have become state-of-the-art. "While few foundries practiced filtration 15 years ago, it's hard to imagine any safety-critical or drive-frame components without them today," he said. He also noted that successes developed on both the ferrous and nonferrous side have turned up found benefits in yield improvement and turbulence reduction.

Process Modeling--Aftersharing results of an AFS Engineering Committee survey that examined process modeling's penetration of the U.S. casting industry, Suschil said fluid flow and solidification modeling systems are an example of the best-available technology getting better with every year. The committee concluded that in-house process simulation services will be the standard 5 years from now, with 100% simulation performed on new jobs.

New Binders

Delta-HA's Doug Trinowski outlined the classes of new binder systems now available for the nonferrous foundryman. "Nonferrous foundries have different needs regarding shakeout characteristics because of the lower pouring temperatures," he said. He highlighted three classes of binders--polyol urethane nobake, no-volatile organic compound (VOC) urethanes and newer coldbox systems--that binder manufacturers have developed in recent years to meet the production challenges specific to aluminum casting.

In addition to describing the history, chemical makeup and handling of each system, he summarized each class of binders as follows:

Polyol Urethane Nobake--This binder is less sensitive to sand and metal temperature and sand is reclaimable, but it is prone to erosion and issolvent-based.

No-VOC Polyol System--This system eliminates VOCs and has low odor at mixing, casting and shakeout, but requires nonstandard ratios to operate properly, may not work on reclaimed sands and can be susceptible to erosion.

Nonferrous Coldbox Systems--Developed for the automakers, this class of binder is similar to standard phenolic urethane coldbox, but offers enhanced shakeout and collapsibility as well as enhanced bench life and other properties, he said.

Other Highlights

Two area foundries--both of which have undergone recent capital projects-- opened their doors to conference attendees with formal plant tours. Tours included Sheppard Foundry, the U.S.'s largest supplier of compacted graphite iron, and Littlestown Foundry, which recently added a new automated molding line and ladling system.

In addition to a presentation by AFS President Jack Pohlman, Taylor-Pohlman, Inc., on the long-range planning activities underway at the national level, the Regional also honored AFS Executive Vice President Chuck Jones, who is retiring from AFS next spring. He was presented with a special crystal piece etched with the words "Chuck Jones: Foundrymen's Friend."