synchronisation strategies to avoid wasted time and ensure the fastest cycle time is achieved. This work will show how furnace design principles can permit the operator to achieve the fastest, most productive, most efficient, and reliable casting process.


10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. A New Innovative Way to Melt Metal Kermit Buntrock, Buntrock Industries, Booth No. 313 Stan Morrow, New Wave Ceramic Crucibles, Inc. Buntrock Industries and New Wave Ceramics Crucibles


have partnered together to bring some new melting technology to the investment casting industry utilizing microwave energy. A special crucible which contains a microwave energy absorber is placed in a microwave field; the microwave energy heats the crucible and will melt any alloy placed inside the crucible. This technology offers numerous advantages to our industry including: • Cleaner metal because of no crucible contamination • Flexibility to melt different alloyswith min. down time • No water consumption • Safety • Space & cost saving This paper will discuss both energy requirements and the design of the microwave melting unit which offers both tilt pour and bottom pour ability.


This furnace design assures


that the microwave melting and casting system can be easily integrated into the investment casting industry.


11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. A Novel Prime Coat Slurry Mineral for Aluminum Investment Castings Steven Ashlock, Kyanite Mining Corp., Booth No. 324 Kevin Rudolph, O’Fallon Casting The selection of a face coat refractory material to be used


in investment casting is crucial when evaluating “as-cast” quality. The face coat material must be refractory, as it needs to be able to withstand the “super heat” of the molten metal to avoid defects caused by mold-metal reactions. Ideally, the material would be non-wetting so that the molten metal never has a chance to penetrate the porosity of the prime coat. The prime coat slurries must have adequate flow-behavior (rheology) to ensure the casting maintains the intricate detail of the pattern. Zircon is nearly always used in prime coat slurries and prime coat stuccos. This is primarily because zircon is a stable refractory mineral and can withstand the superheats used to cast stainless alloys. However, in applications where the alloy temperature is much lower than iron or nickel- base superalloys, high temperature refractoriness may not be needed; e.g. investment casting aluminum. In aluminum castings, the backup materials may differ


from steel, but the prime coat material is often the same: zircon. Zircon is commonly used even though aluminum alloys melt at significantly lower temperatures than their steel counterparts. Molten aluminum is corrosive and readily reacts with most refractories through the reductive action of aluminum. This corrosiveness causes mold-metal reactions and leads to


June 2022 ❘ 19 ®


surface defects, increasing finishing labor. Zircon does a good job resisting this corrosion but comes at a significant cost and is over-kill for aluminum casting applications. Kyanite Mining Corporation has recently developed a new prime coat slurry mineral alternative that is both refractory enough to withstand the temperature of aluminum superheat and exhibits non- wetting characteristics with molten aluminum, leaving a smooth as-cast surface. This paper will discuss the viability of this new prime coat slurry for aluminum investment castings through laboratory testing and a foundry case study.


11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. LUNCH - Disneyland South Ballroom


12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. A Shop Floor Approach to Continuous Improvement in IC CF8M Components for Biomedical Applications Dr. Roger Lumley, AW Bell Pty Ltd., Booth No. 313 The current study formed part of a continuous improvement


program in which components made from Alloy CF8M used in biomedical devices were evaluated. The purpose of the study then was to isolate causes of scrap or rework and in particular, those that required remediation by defect removal and repair. Perceptions of the established production methods and poor understanding of acceptability criteria were found to be some of the major impediments to long term remediation of problems. A range of variables were examined that relied on accurate record keeping and measurement of key quality data by shop floor staff, as opposed to management or technical staff. It was shown that, among the variables assessed, over processing the investment casting shells prior to casting, de-slagging procedures during melting, entrained oxides, alloy composition, shell temperature, melt temperature, and manual handling during casting all had major influences on variability. Understanding these variables in detail meant that the amount of scrap, rework, welding and straightening of castings was able to be significantly reduced. Providing shop floor staff with the ability to actively contribute to R&D programs and hence manufacturing process development was found to be one of the greatest contributors to improving productivity of investment cast stainless steel in a production environment.


EVENT SPONSOR


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44