CASTING INNOVATIONS
CASTING INNOVATIONS The best way
to deliver an encore is to add to the cast.
Graphite Permanent Mold Process Cuts Lead Times, Costs During a redesign project, the hardware engineering
manager of a company that builds cameras for quality-con- trol applications faced a challenge when the camera’s optics and circuitry were ready weeks before their housings. T e company needed the cases, which measure 4.5 x 2.5 x 1.25 in., to be ready quickly. “T e product introduction schedule was the number one
driver,” said the engineering manager. “We had started down a path with a diecasting company and were running into some scheduling problems. It was going to take 14 weeks to get aluminum castings for the housing.” T e engineer then consulted several machine shops, but
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cost quickly became a prohibitive factor. T e estimated cost for each half of the case was $250. Searching for alternatives, the engineering manager eventually contacted Graphicast, Jaff rey, N.H., which casts zinc-aluminum alloy parts in graphite permanent molds. Graphicast agreed to provide the fi rst samples ready in six weeks, less than half the lead time for diecast parts. T e camera required a durable housing. Additionally, the
camera’s circuitry could generate signifi cant heat, so the case needed to conduct and disperse heat more eff ectively than the earlier model’s extruded aluminum housing. T e c ase needed to be hardened and sealed tightly to withstand high- er ambient temperatures and diffi cult working conditions. T e team developed a two-part design with wedge-shaped halves joined along a line that did not transect the holes for the camera’s lens, connector ports or status indicators. T e team then collaborated with Graphicast’s design department to optimize the design for casting. “Being able to discuss the design with the engineers at Graphicast was very helpful,” said the end-user’s engineering
April 27 - 30, 2015 | Atlanta, Georgia, USA With Interwire 2015
www.castingforum15.com
The Wire Association International, Inc. Telephone: (001) 203-453-2777 |
www.wirenet.org The camera housings were cast in graphite permanent molds. 60 | MODERN CASTING February 2015
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