technique. Figure 2. Integration of the OCN system into an existing plant. Figure 3. Illustration of the modular OCN system for highest system availability. materials can also be cast which could not be • Turbulence-free entry of the melt into In terms of the environment and sustaina- poured in conventional processes because of the gating system, bility, low-pressure pouring not only saves their high oxidation tendency, i.e. including • Complete mold fillingin theshortest energy compared to conventional processes copper alloys with an affinity for oxygen. possible time, especially for complex due to the smaller quantities of input material. and thin-walled castings, As the CO emissions from steel production2 The pressure curve for controlling the • Consistent pouring temperature. are about six times lower than those from mold filling can be individually adapted and • Possibility of adapting existing produc- the manufacture of comparable aluminum archived for each casting mold. The low-pres- tion lines (Figure 3) products, lightweight steel casting is gaining sure control works with proportional techno- enormously in importance, especially in times logy and achieves accuracies of ±1 mbar. «The >>> CONCLUSION when resource andenergy efficiency are of support points of the pressure curve can be the essence. The time factor is also important: adjusted in the range of tenths of a second», When comparing conventional processes Those who act now can seize the opportu- says Dietmar Mitschulat, software engineer at based on the principle of gravity pouring nity for a unique selling proposition - and the ABP Induction responsible for programming on the one hand and the future-oriented development of new castings and markets. the control of the OCN system. What he also low-pressure pouring process on the other, values: «With every pouring process, there the benefits for the latter process are obvious. Markus HAGEDORN ////////// is an automatic comparison of target and It shows that low-pressure pouring can be Sales Manager Liquid Metals, ////////// actual values.» Additional production values used to make steel castings fit for future ABP Induction Systems GmbH, ////////// (furnace pressure at start, target pressure, requirements, also in automotive enginee- Dortmund. ////////// actual pressure, argon consumption during ring and the related supply industry. This is www.abpinduction.com ////////// pouring, mold contact pressure target and especially relevant given the enormous mar- actual, temperature during pouring) are ket and margin pressure on the remaining >>> BIBLIOGRAPHY archived and can be used for continuous components of the combustion engine. In the improvement of the pouring result. «As such, practice of low-pressure pouring, this means [1] L. Hartmann, Presentation WFO this makes it possible to sustainably reduce that a wide range of new opportunities are Technical Forum 2007. liquid metal content and guarantees mini- opening up for the production of steel cas- [2] e-mobil BW GmbH, State Agency for mum process-related scrap rates. Moreover, tings. On the one hand, this is the optimiza- Electric Mobility and Fuel Cell Technology the process ensures the highest possible tion of existing component series and types Baden-Württemberg: Lightweight reproducibility and automation in line with for a cost and resource efficient production construction in mobility and manufac- the principles of modern Industry 4.0 pro- using the low-pressure pouring process. At turing, 2012.8. duction». the same time, there is also the opportunity [3] M.Albert, MAC GmbH; Pouring steel to open up new markets in comparison to with even thinner walls – is that pos- Other empirical values from practice arise alternative production methods and to main- sible?, Deutscher Giessereitag 2013 with regard to the company organization and tain competitive markets. [4] F.-J. Wöstmann, interview with the production process: This makes it possible to produce lightweight Michael Braun, Medienhaus Waltrop, structures made of high-strength materials, 2020 • Pouring in short cycle times with low especially for large series in the automo- [5] Gießerei 100 (2013), [No. 10], p. 29 – 34. manpower requirements increases the tive industry, as well as thin-walled castings, [6] elektrowärme international (2013), productivity of the foundry, which are an importantprerequisite for [No.4], p. 29 -34. • Relief of staff: Work processes with a future applications based on the changing [7] H. Wäcken, BMW Group, Vortrag high level of concentration and repeti- requirements of e-mobility. Thin-walled Gießtechnik und E-Mobilität 2019. tive procedures can be automated and steel castings offer the most favorable com- continuously optimized, promise between design on the one hand • The size of the gating and feeder sys- and component and system costs on the tem can be reduced, thus reducing the other. This is especially true for junctions and amount of circulation material, connecting elements of the body-in-white • When filling the molds, pouring under- [7] as well as other structurally relevant parts fills are avoided, which reduces the of future e-mobility vehicles in the passenger reject rate, car and commercial vehicle sector. N°19 • SEPTEMBRE 2020 • 21