Greenfield construction is a matter of interest to everyone in the metalcasting industry, and while those projects depend very much on timing, location, and capital, the discussion becomes truly consequential on the matter of process and technology. About six years ago, a gray and ductile iron foundry began building a new operation capable of casting its wide range of products with maximum flexibility, but also with premium product quality and energy efficiency.
Atik Metal’s project near Izmir, Turkey, was conceived as an ultra-modern foundry for agricultural machinery and commercial vehicle components, diesel engines, and pump and valve bodies, as well as general industrial components. The range of molding programs is extensive, operating on two molding lines that demand a steady supply of prepared sand – up to 616 m³ per hour. In this respect, the need for flexibility is combined with the necessity of availability.
For its sand-preparation program, Atik Metal settled on the Eirich Group Evactherm® technology, which centers on four large RV32Vac vacuum mixers fitted with advanced torque drives for the rotors. The power system optimizes energy efficiency and minimizes noise emissions.
The flexibility of the system is such that any of the mixers is available to supply any molding machine with the required sand volume and profile, which contributes significantly to the overall efficiency of the process.
The Qualimaster AT1 Profiplus process-control system for sand treatment includes smart material testing capability, based on the customized SandExpert software, which predictively calculates the requirements for new sand and additives according to the daily production requirements and quality targets.
Specifically, Qualimaster measures and records the compactability and shear strength of each batch of sand in just 40 seconds. Other factors modeled include gas permeability, springback, and deformability.
Sandreport software records and analyzes the entire preparation process, taking the relevant batch data from the AC1 moisture correction system and the AT1 inline test unit.
The sand profile is controlled intelligently by the ‘SandExpert’ software, while the requirement for new sand and additives is calculated predictively by looking at the daily mold orders. When a mold is changed, the software automatically calculates the ideal composition of the molding material, drawing reference values from a mold database. This detail means that return-sand quality is consistent, regardless of the castings produced, and the right molding material is always available for the parts to be produced.
Return sand is refreshed with the necessary portions of bentonite, new sand, and additives to restore the profile following the relevant casting sequence. Thus, Atik Metal has effective raw-materials management with maximum flexibility for production planning, consistent production, and reproducible results.
After a little more than two years of planning and installation, the system was commissioned in the fall of 2023. General manager Mehmet Atik expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration and the coordination on the project, which has delivered impressive performance and results.
“It’s a first-class system, and we are achieving perfect casting surfaces,” Atik reported of the sand-preparation process. “Thanks to vacuum technology, the problems that we used to have with surface flaws for 50 years are now a thing of the past. The first customers to have visited us have also been impressed. The reliability of sand management is the ‘be-all and end-all’ for us, because without that the whole foundry comes to a halt. The new control systems and the entire technology mean we are now well set up for the future.”