»CASTING Plant and Technology International« (CP+T) is the leading English-language foundry journal with a worldwide distribution. It covers the entire foundry technology for ferrous and steel castings, as well as non-ferrous metal castings including die casting. Raw and auxiliary materials as well as questions of quality control and environmental protection are included.
The focus is on technical papers from the practice of plant manufacturers, suppliers and foundries.
Short news about new facilities and processes and important events in the foundry industry complete the editorial offer.
Contents of issue 1 - March 2024
SPECIAL: EUROGUSS 2024
- EUROGUSS 2024: Great popularity, big worries
- The European die casting competition enters its second round: Less weight, less CO2 and lower costs – when less is more
- 23rd Die Casting Day 2024: Think big, plan in detail
CONTENTS
- DIE CAST CORES - Innovative water-soluble binder systems
- MOLD MATERIALS - Determining the main factors of fatigue and durability
- DECARBONIZATION - Recycling of organically contaminated aluminum scrap
- SUSTAINABILITY - Minimum quantity lubrication with electrostatic application
- SEALING SYSTEM - The art of sealing in large die-casting dies
- ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING - 3D sand printing: The benefits of hybrid mold and core production
Die casting – casting under pressure
The world‘s leading trade fair – are you there?
The EUROGUSS trade fair in Nuremberg was exciting and inspiring. Visitors, exhibitors and editors were able to experience internationality in the best sense of the word. Die casting is booming and is also being pushed by the topic of mega or gigacasting.
But die casters in the home country of EUROGUSS – Germany – are facing a variety of challenges that are overwhelming even the very resilient medium-sized foundries. That is my impression after many conversations.
In addition to ongoing topics such as decarbonization or increasing bureaucracy due to ever more reporting obligations, political and economic facts – the latter also politically influenced – are a particular burden on foundries. The longing for consistent framework conditions from politicians can be heard in every discussion at the trade fair. Reliability is the keyword here.
And then there are the economic facts. Quite a few die casters, for example, have bet on a boom in electromobility made in Germany and have invested extensively in recent years. Credit-financed investments that naturally have to be serviced on an ongoing basis. It is therefore more than unfortunate for the industry if the boom does not really get off the ground and is also stifled politically: The abrupt end of e-car subsidies in Germany shortly before Christmas completely pulled the plug on electric cars.
We have taken a closer look at what foundry managing directors want and what they expect from 2024 in our comprehensive EUROGUSS report in this issue. Other topics in this special include the award ceremony of the European Die Casting Competition with the top castings and the Die Casting Day with its lecture program.
Of our other topics, three articles are of particular interest to die casters: The first deals with the development of a new type of sand core that is solidified with a water-soluble binder. The second presents an intelligent sealing system for die casting molds. Finally, the third is dedicated to the topic of minimum quantity lubrication, which reduces the consumption of release agents and energy to a minimum and thus improves the sustainability of production.
In addition, among others, there is also an article on the recycling of organically contaminated aluminum scrap using induction furnaces powered by green electricity, as well as an overview of the advantages of hybrid mold and core production, which combines traditional sand mold making with 3D printing of complex sand cores.
Have a good read!