Regional Speakers Discuss Metalcasting Education, Melt Basics.

The AFS Texas Regional, held March 2325 in San Antonio, not only offered its out-of-town attendees a brief getaway from cooler climates, but also presentations on improving casting yield, advances in nonferrous gating design, improved shakeout characteristics for the shell process and developing new casting applications. With the theme "Casting Excellence in the New Millennium," the conference attracted 229 attendees, while its TEXPO 2000 exhibition showcased 41 industry suppliers.

While technical information intended to help optimize foundry operations was presented, a discussion on how universities are working with the foundry industry raised much interest.

Universities' Role in the Foundry Industry

"The direction and operation of a university often is a mystery to those who lack the opportunity to look within the system and understand its workings," said Robert Habingreither, Southwest Texas State Univ. (SWT), his opening words on the university's role in regional and national economic growth and stability.

Using SWT as an example, he went on to discuss how AFS and the foundry industry can benefit from university programs. Texas AFS members represent a major portion of SWT's clientele (Texas taxpayers), which means that they have a right to expect certain services from all state universities, he said.

Some of the university services that benefit foundries include:

* reasonably priced multidisciplinary education for all state residents;

* cultural events for all residents;

* advancement of knowledge for specialized interest groups;

* specialized technical/professional education;

* focused academic inquiry with regard to problems of a specialized nature relating to many diverse fields of interest.

Thirteen years ago, SWT formed a relationship with AFS, becoming actively involved with cast metals technology and engineering. The university's funding has been coming from formula funding, which varies from discipline to discipline, but external funding such as grants, specially funded projects, gifts and donations are a powerful factor in influencing the internal operations of the system.

Among its efforts to put something back into the resources of Texas, SWT has planned a $34-million technology/physics building, featuring a 2600-sq-ft foundry and 2000-sq-ft material testing lab, to be built by spring 2002. "The primary reason this is happening is because SWT faculty and administrators have decided that the foundry business is very important in Texas and deserves academic presence at our university," said Habingreither.

Students from SWT's program are in high demand, according to Habingreither, and have a choice of positions after graduation.

Nucleation Potential of Graphitic Iron

In his presentation, Eugene Muratore, Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium, assessed the nucleation potential of a graphitic iron before treatment or inoculation.

Factors that affect the nucleation potential and metallurgical quality of cast irons include: the metallic charge, the type of melting equipment, temperature, dwell or holding time, chemical composition and inoculation.

According to Muratore, chill wedge testing of base cupola iron was a practice that allowed changes to the charge amount or type of charge materials to be made, but melters soon realized that changes within the cupola manifested dramatic changes in the chill wedge values in cast irons. Also, with the increasing popularity of induction melting furnaces as primary melters, wedge testing has fallen out of favor, he said.

"The metallic charge and melt history of cast iron melts have an effect on the final structures produced in castings, Muratore said. "These structures affect mechanical properties, shrinkage behavior and machinability. Rather than cross one's fingers and hope for the best, consider utilizing a method to evaluate the quality of the melt before treatment and normalize the nucleation state before proceeding."