The Teksid Group soon will begin series production of cylinder heads in compacted graphite iron (CGI) at its foundry in Monclova, Mexico, for commercial vehicle and industrial power engine programs, and it has contracted SinterCast LLC to update its production process. The Monclova operation mainly produces gray iron cylinder blocks and heads for industrial vehicles, though Teksid has iron foundries in Brazil, China, Poland, and Portugal as well, and aluminum foundries producing various automotive components in Italy.
CGI is a lightweight alternative to gray iron and aluminum for automotive components. SinterCast developed the most widely used process for commercial CGI production. That technology is under license to numerous foundries worldwide and used to cast over 55 different components in series production.
The Mexican foundry lists its gray iron production capacity at 85,000 tons/year, which supports engine programs at Caterpillar Inc., Chrysler Group, Cummins Inc., and Mack Trucks Inc.
As it prepares to start series production of CGI products, Teksid ordered a full refurbishment of its existing SinterCast process control system, including an upgrade to the current System 3000 standard.
"The ongoing product development at Teksid Hierro de Mexico and the System 3000 upgrade further exemplify the demand for Compacted Graphite Iron in heavily loaded engine components," according to SinterCast president and CEO Dr. Steve Dawson. "We look forward to supporting Teksid's product development and series production as another important step in broadening the supply, the awareness and the confidence of CGI around the world."
The latest version of System 3000 is scalable to allow future increases in the CGI production volume, including additional sampling capacity and automated base treatment by cored wire, SinterCast explained.
Teksid’s System 3000 package will be shipped from SinterCast's Technical Centre in Sweden soon and installed early in 2013, as the foundry begins product development and series production.
Also, the developer reported that Teksid plans to install SinterCast-CGI series production capability at its foundry in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
"Following the initial installation of the SinterCast System 2000 ten years ago, we have supported the CGI activities of our customers at our foundries," Teksid S.p.A. president and CEO Dr. Riccardo Tarantini explained. "Now, as the CGI development activities have led to new series production opportunities, we are pleased to invest in the latest CGI process control advances to provide our customers with class-leading CGI capability.
“We remain committed to establishing Teksid as one of the leading suppliers of CGI components to the automobile, commercial vehicle and industrial power industries," Tarantini concluded.