the metalcasting facility is taking advantage of the opportunities in developing new grades of alloys that provide customers properties they need at a cost savings. Aarrowcast had dabbled in vari-
ous iron alloys but mostly stuck with gray and ductile iron until a cus- tomer approached the company with a need for a part with high tough- ness in cold temperatures. Together with the customer, Aarrowcast developed a method to achieve high toughness at -40F as-cast. The suc- cess of that project encouraged the metalcasting facility to pursue more jobs requiring high properties. With its existing metallurgist Cesar
Braga on staff, Aarrowcast experi- mented with new grades of alloys proj- ect by project, focusing on achieving the properties demanded by customers for specific applications. Close collabo- ration with customers has led to high impact property, high strength and wear resistant as-cast alloys that save
in heat treatment costs. Now, the metalcasting facil-
ity pours dozens of grades of iron, including all standard grades, as well as base metal for a number of grades of ADI, high impact property as- cast ductile, and gray iron for heavy sectioned parts. Aarrowcast’s melt department is set
up well for handling a wide variety of alloys. It has six relatively small (9-ton) furnaces and no holding furnaces, so the operation can rapidly change metal grades in the melter throughout the shift. Additionally, Aarrowcast has the ability to send metal from any of the six furnaces to any of the three molding lines. As Smith put it, the metalcasting facility is not hung up with a big holding furnace with just one grade of alloy. “Te ability to pour these exotic
grades plus the flexibility of the way we are set up in melting plus the skill of our metallurgists, those are all things we have used to secure new
business awards,” he said. “Tat is ongoing and continuing to grow.” Te potential for the alloys lies in
their ability to replace steel fabrications or achieve certain properties as-cast— without heat treatment that can add cost. According to Smith, ADI and its high impact as-cast alloys offers the biggest growth opportunities. “ADI has more potential than
anything. Te demand for its high strength is found in applications in just about all of our markets,” Smith said. “Te as-cast high impact alloy is finding additional applications and a good bit of that is in the transit mar- ket. We don’t have to heat treat while still meeting impact properties.” In a couple of short years, these
more exotic iron alloys have grown to make up about 25% of Aarrowcast’s business, and the company is looking to continue to increase that number. “We are looking for opportunities
in the nonstandard gray and ductile iron grades. We have small furnace
July 2015 MODERN CASTING | 23
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