Parker Hannifi n’s Introduction to Lost Foam Adds Value


W


hen Parker Hannifi n, Cleveland, approached BRP US Inc., Spruce Pine, N.C., to cast a fuel fi lter housing for


Daimler trucks, it was the company’s fi rst foray into lost foam production casting. It was up to BRP to illuminate the abilities of the process to improve not only the design of the single part, but the entire application. “Unlimited design potential is the


fi rst part of lost foam we have to edu- cate our customers about,” said Chris Campbell, head of lost foam/business development at BRP. “T e customer might bring to us a design that has been fi nalized for another process. Our challenge is to work with the end company to incorporate more into a single casting.” T e fuel fi lter housing for the DD-15 engine used in heavy duty Daimler trucks requires interior pas- sages that must be pressure tight to 2.5 cu. cm/minute at 6 Bar. Parker Hannifi n was intrigued by the lost foam process and realized it held design opportunities for the component.


“T e decision to go with lost foam was design-driven,” said Dale Giva, engineering manager of Daimler products for Parker Hannifi n’s Racor division. “T e design of the part in lost foam gave the engine its value.” Originally, the part was considered


as a die casting, but its location in the engine required fuel lines to run across the module, as well as from below and from the right. “It looked like an octopus,” Giva said. T e lost foam process led to the elimi-


nation of the multi-directional tubing. Because it was the fi rst part Parker


Hannifi n designed for Daimler in lost foam, the original casting design was conservative. “Primarily, the initial changes


involved were to make it more eco- nomical,” Campbell said. “T e original design weighed 10.6 lbs. (4.8 kg) and was able to be produced using four foam slices.” BRP recognized the opportunity to


incorporate more features into the casting to add further value, even while work- ing with a compact envelope space—the fi nal part dimensions were 10.5 x 7.5 x


10.5 in. (267 x 191 x 267 mm). Together with Parker Hannifi n and Daimler, BRP looked at the full function of the part to fi nd ways to combine application aspects into the single casting, eliminating sec- ondary machining steps. “We would ask them to help us understand how a feature works with the casting to see if we could fi t it into the casting design,” Campbell said. T e fi nal design incorporated seven independent passages that route the fuel through the fi ltration system at high pressure. T e fi nal 356 aluminum casting design weighed 17.7 lbs. (8 kg) and required eight foam slices and a complicated core package to produce the geometry. “We tried to integrate channels as


much as possible into the design,” Giva said. T e lost foam part fi rst went into


production in October 2008 and is expected to continue to be a part of the Daimler truck launch schedule over at least the next two years. Since Parker Hannifi n’s fi rst production lost foam part, the company also has introduced an oil module with a lost foam iron


casting for another customer. Contact BRP at 828/766-1140 for more information.


The lost foam fuel fi lter housing eliminated secondary machining by incorporating several cast-in features.


Reprinted from MODERN CASTING

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