run across all facilities was 1,498 pieces. The median production run, which is less susceptible to distortion by outliers, was 200.
Breakdown by Material The data collected in the MODERN
CASTING survey (Fig. 2) yielded simi- lar material breakdown results to the American Foundry Society’s forecast data, which projects the demograph- ics of all 2,040 metalcasting facilities believed to be operating in the country at this time. The MODERN CASTING survey found aluminum to be by far the most often poured material, with greater than 45% of the survey respondents using it. (Note: most U.S. facilities pour multiple materials.) Iron was produced at more than 30% of the facilities reporting. Titanium casting capabilities were reported by only 19 domestic facilities. (For a report of the sales dollars forecast to be produced by each material segment of the met- alcasting market in 2011, see the full industry forecast on p. 26.)
Breakdown by Process Green sand is still the dominant pro-
Fig. 3. Nobake casting has grown to rival green sand casting for the most used process in the domestic metalcasting industry.
cess in the U.S. metalcasting industry, with 54.9% of surveyed facilities utilizing it. (Note: many U.S. facilities use mul- tiple processes.) The nobake process was employed by more than a third of
the metalcasters reporting. Diecasting maintains a hold in 22.4% of facilities. The least used process was v-process casting (0.4%), with continuous casting a close second to last (1.6%). METAL
40 Metal Casting Design anD PurChasing
January/February 2011
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