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Home arrow Castings In Action

Castings In Action

This small casting used in the medical industry measures 5 x 2.25 x 2-in., about the width of a AA battery and just over twice that in length.

Medical Part 		The casting supplier, Custom Aluminum Foundry Ltd.,Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, completed 180 of these 165-lb. aluminum screens to add a decorative and symbolic touch to a $54 million dollar building project in Canada’s capital.

Ornamental construction screens 		The design of the tread for a decorative exterior staircase included multiple openings to provide drainage and prevent slippage, which only metalcasting could produce.

Staircase Tread 		The hang glider castings produced by Micro Metalsmiths, North Yorks, U.K., were produced with as-cast tolerances of +/-0.005 in.

Hang Glider Joints 		This marine engine manifold, made by AC Foundry, Battle Creek, Mich., was converted from two gray iron castings to a single aluminum casting weighing 28 lbs., resulting in a weight savings per motor of 38 lbs.

Water Jacketed Exhaust Manifold
Cast in chromalloy steel by Goltra Casting Co., Golden, Colo., this cover provides extra protection from rocks and debris to a 4 x 4's differential.

Differential Cover 		The highly polished aluminum automotive aftermarket casting made via the rubber-plaster mold process, weighs 13 lbs. and was converted from plastic to increase efficiency and power.

Intake manifold 		This aluminum casting conversion from a multi-piece assembly eliminated external tubing, hydraulic lines and passageways by casting them into the design of this 200-lb. part for an amphibious military vehicle.

Main transmission housing for military 		The customer's engineering staff originally designed this investment-cast gear box for an aircraft engine in aluminum, but due to weight constraints, material became the material of choice.

Aerial engine gearbox 		This control assembly for military avionics was converted from a five-part assembly of machinined components to die castings, which reduced manufacturing costs while maintaining the required closer tolerances and smooth finish.

Control assembly for military avionics
Originally a four-piece fabrication that incorporated parts made from two different metals, this prototype was developed by Metaltek International-Wisconsin Investcast, Watertown, Wis., with its customer, to verify the castability and functionality of a single-piece casting. The collaboration between casting supplier and customer helped steer a further redesign for improved castability.

Cleaning Mesh Holder 		Made in 17-4 PH stainles steel, the 5.4 x 0.6 x 3-in. (13.7 x 1.52 x 7.62-cm) casting maintains the high strength-to-weight ratio necessary for its application as an aerospace part for an engine access door panel. (Photo courtesy of the Investment Casting Institute.)

Latch Housing 		Used in breathing masks worn by fighter pilots, the diecast connector assembly produced by Alloy Die Casting, Buena Park, Calif., required tolerances as low as 0.003 in. (0.0076 cm) and was subjected to a battery of performance tests to be certified as field-ready.

Oxygen Mask Connector Assembly 		This aluminum part for the tail section of a Buell motorcycle, saved weight and cost by incorporating the bike's shock mount location. It was produced by Eck Industries, Manitowoc, Wis., via the ablation sand process, which cools the casting rapidly to produce a tight microstructure.

Rear Motorcycle Frame 		Produced via permanent mold casting by Citation Corp., Butler, Ind., this 7-lb. control knuckle helped in the development of a new nondestructive testing method--the process-compensated resonant test, which sorts parts by measuring their resonant frequencies.

Rear Control Knuckle
Piad Precision Casting produced this brass casting via its permanent mold chill casting process. The part was redesigned from a weldment consisting of 10 pre-fabricated pieces, 19 weld joints and four bushings.

Material handling steering/linkage assembly 		Previously welded, this seed boot required a large amount of laser cutting time and difficult welding and forming procedures. By converting it to a casting, both piece cost and production time were saved. The ductile iron boot, cast by Lethbridge Iron Works, features a wear tail insert cast in abrasion resistant high-chrome iron.

Ductile iron seed boot 		General Motors Corp. and Diversified Machine Inc. worked together to design and produce this aluminum automotive part, which was cast via the vacuum riserless/pressure riserless proces. It achieved a mass reduction of 40% and a part consolidation of 32 to one with the conversion from a previous steel design.

Cadillac CTS Engine Cradle 		This stainless steel CF8M casting, produced by TPM Inc., was converted from a machined 316 stainless steel that required eight hours of machining to remove 19 lbs. of material per part.

Housing for Load Sensing Compression Cell Assembly 		This cast iron skilled, produced by Lodge Manufacturing, won Best In Show in the Annual International Housewares Association's Design Awards. It incorporates an investment cast stainless steel handle, which is riveted to the cast iron skillet ni an orbital riveting process that reduces the intense pressure that can cause cast iron shells to crack.

Iron Skillet
Alcoa Laval Castings produced this beryllium-free A357 aluminum aerospace part via investment casting. The castings large size (34 in. in diameter and 20 in. tall), heavy weight and contoured veins is the result of a combination of three types of coring in one intricate design.

Front Frame Casting for Aircraft Engine 		<p> <span style="font-family: Verdana">A tumbleweed found on the beach in Michigan was cast in steel via investment casting. Steel was chosen for its ease of casting and its natural tendency to rust, thus dupicating the natural color and appearance of bark. Supplied by Aristo-Cast, Almont, Mich.</span> </p>

Tumbleweed Sculpture 		Twenty-seven cores were used to make this 261-lb. transmssion housing for military vehicles using the semi-permanent mold process. Machined and assembled components would have required 15-20 parts and cost 75% more than the casting. Supplied by Denison Industries, Denison, Texas

Transmission Main Housing 		Production of this torque arm bracket previously required 8-10 hours of fabrication per part. The conversion to a ductile iron casting led to shorter lead times for the customer and eliminated 50 in. of welding. An overall cost savings of $49 per part was achieved. Supplied by Farrar Corp., Manhattan, Kan.

Torque Arm Bracket 		Converted from a permanent mold component, this automotive die casting for recreational vehicles was reduced in weight by 1.4 lbs., which resulted in improved machining cycle time. Supplied by Mercury Castings, Fond du Lac, Wis.

Combined Right Hand Crankcase/Transmission Housing
Converted from a forged part, this aluminum aviation casting produced by Premier Aluminum LLC, Racine, Wis., was reduced in cost by 20% per piece.

Dual Window Top Cover 		Cast in high conductivity copper, this part is a multi-point connection device used in telecommunication switch gear. It was converted from a multi-piece fabrication, reducing the part weight by 30% and eliminating multiple brazed connections. Casting supplier is Burnstein von Seelen Precision Castings Corp., Abbeville, S.C.

Z Bar Connector 		To achieve the vents needed for this aluminum investment-cast part, 16 1-inch vent holes and four vent slots were machined into the wax patterns prior to setup and investment of the assembly. Waltek Inc., Ramsey Minn., is the casting supplier.

Line Launcher Tube for Military Use 		The machined casting, produced by Thomas Machine and Foundry, Marysville, Wash., replaced a bracket made from 10 or more fabricated steel components that had to be welded and mechanically fastened, which led to a high failure rate due to an inability to maintain proper bearing alignment. The A356-T6 aluminum casting has experienced a zero failure rate.

Idler Bracket 		The customer for this casting wanted to convert from a fabricated part but did not want to change any of the mating parts or methods of assembly. Casting supplier Citation Biscoe, Biscoe, N.C., encapsulated a steel tube in the ductile iron casting to allow the customer to weld the casting into the frame assembly using the current equipment and technology.

Front Mount Casting
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