de Oliveira said. Metalcasting also brings structural
advantages as well, like a smooth force transfer between different shapes. “Ultimately, we can put the mate-
rial where it ought to be for the flow of forces through the structural component, rather than trying to build up or stiffen platework. We literally shape the part as nature would shape it,” de Oliveira said. “When you do that, you often end up with something that looks very elegant. So we leverage the geometric freedom that casting offers to improve structural performance and also to improve the aesthetic quality of connections.” In the Ashe project, Cast Connex
turned to Bradken and its Atchison, Kansas, facility for tooling, casting production and machining. Te two companies had worked together in the past, and based on their strong profes- sional relationship and the size and complexity of the part, Bradken was the right facility for Cast Connex. “It’s increasingly difficult to have
those relationships today when so many people try to commoditize an engineered component,” said Wayne Braun, director of business develop- ment – industrial products, Bradken. “Te value added to that relationship put forward co-designing the com- ponent to yield the best results and lowest cost of quality.” Te components were cast via the nobake sand casting process utilizing a 50 ksi grade of steel casting to an ASTM A958 specification, which is one of a number of standard grades for the structural market. Te two companies used a col-
laborative relationship to produce the connections. Tere was feedback, give-and-take, input, and evidence of a strong professional relationship. “Not everybody can do this because
there are a lot of technical and qual- ity back-and-forth between the two because of the importance of these components, not only the structural integrity but also the expectation visually,” Braun said. “In addition, the precision needs to be put in the weld- prep areas so that these castings fit into the plane. Tis allows them to be fabricated in position without creat- ing potential dimensional issues at the
March 2016 MODERN CASTING | 35
“From an architectural perspective, we can create geometries and connections that
offer very different aesthetics than one could achieve by fabricating connections from welded platework,” de Oliveira said.
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