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PIAD
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Earning
top recognition from the first-ever
Casting Contest, these components clearly
illustrate the benefits the casting process offers
to the design and engineering community.
An Engineered Casting Solutions Staff
Report
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To further demonstrate to the engineering community--with some impressive, in-the-field applications--some
of the creative possibilities that the metalcasting process offers,
the editors of Engineered Casting Solutions launched the
first-ever Casting Contest in 2001.
In this inaugural contest, 41 components of a
wide variety of metals and processes and end-use applications were
submitted. A panel of independent judges personally |
evaluated
each submission on ingenuity in design, casting quality and
functional benefits to each unique application.
Benefits found through these designs (many are
conversions to castings from other manufacturing methods) include
lead-time gains, part consolidation and OEM inventory reduction,
elimination of machining and other secondary processing and
dimensional tolerance improvements--all leading to major cost
savings. |
A total of 14 components were recognized this year, including the
highest honor, "The Casting of the Year." These successes
are significant for both the end-use manufacturer and casting
producer alike. Only thorough patience, total systems knowledge, and
upfront and open communication between metalcasters and their
customers' design and purchasing teams are such enormous
possibilities turned into reality. |
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Foundry:
PIAD
Precision Casting Corp.,
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Component: 6.0 K Amp Rectifier
Application: High-amperage industrial electrical breakers.
Casting Process: Permanent mold.
Metal: Pure copper.
Dimensions: 12 x 7.5 x 4.75 in.
Weight: 34 lb.
Converted from: Assembly from machined copper bar stock requiring
bolted-on aluminum extrusions. Prototypes failed to pass the
required 6000 amp heat rise tests.
Features/Benefits:
- one-piece casting design incorporated
heat-dissipated fins and eliminated resistive and mechanical
joints;
- component stretched the size
envelope for chill mold casting;
- supplied to customer cast,
machined and silver-plated.
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Foundry:
PIAD
Precision Casting Corp.,
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Component: Foot base.
Application: Leg extension adjustment mechanisms on specialty
hospital beds.
Casting Process: Permanent mold.
Metal: Ni-Al-Bronze
Dimensions: 5.25 x 5 x 2.5 in.
Weight: 1.73 lb.
Converted from: Welded assembly.
Features/Benefit:
- consolidated seven individual
components to a one-piece casting
- eliminated fixturing and
machining problems by eliminating the 17 welds required
previously;
- reduced secondary processing to
only three reamed holes and two drilled holes;
- reduced total component weight by
33%;
- reduced customer's inhouse plant
processing time by 80% (welding, weld-distortion straightening,
machining, etc.)
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| REPRINTED
FROM SUMMER 2001 ENGINEERED
CASTING SOLUTIONS
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 Click
here for a printable version...
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