In a complex but discrete segment of engineering and research (as metalcasting is) technological progress often depends on collaboration and coordination. It’s one explanation for the increasing importance of after-sale services, important that is to service suppliers as well as to the customers. Fill Machine Engineering – which has capabilities for outfitting and updating foundry core rooms, casting cooling lines, decoring stations, and premachining/deburring and grinding systems -- is making that case now.
Noting that “reproducible test results in close-to-production conditions create the very best circumstances for developing high-performance machine and system concepts,” Fill Machine Engineering has opened a Test Center at its location in Gurten, Austria, where its customers are able to evaluate options for collaborative component tests and trials.
Fill operates in the foundry sector, but also in the automotive, aviation, sports, and construction sectors. The new Test Center is outfitted with up-to-date technologies and developments from Fill’s Casting Technology and Profile Technology Competence Centers. On a Twistmaster 400 decoring machine, components up to 400 kilograms (clamping fixture including casting) are decored with no turning of the component on its own axis is required. For more difficult casting geometries, the Swingmaster machine models (maximum payload 315 or 500 kg) provide more optimal conditions for decoring.
“Hard-as-steel machining power meets cybernetic intelligence in our new Test Center,” explained Thomas Rathner, head of the Casting Technology Competence Center. “In these real-world tests, our customers can gain a first-hand impression of the performance and precision of our machines and systems.”
Fill also offers the option of conducting tests on the customer’s premises with its mobile hammering station. The Corecracker preliminary decoring unit uses hydraulic hammers to break sand cores within a casting before the sand removal process actually begins.
The decoring center is equipped with all the machines used by Fill’s casting technology customers around the world.
Decoring typically is a two-stage process. In the first step, the core is broken by hitting the component with targeted hammer blows. Next, the broken core fragments are removed from the casting using a high-energy vibration system.
At the Test Center, for step one, both pneumatic and hydraulic hammers are available for tests on customer components. Depending on component size, the step two of the decoring process is performed with the Swingmaster 315, Swingmaster 500, or Twistmaster 400. For greater insight and better documentation, the entire process is recorded with four video cameras.
Fill Cybernetics records the testing and analyzes the data in real time. Two large screens are installed outside the enclosed workspace so that customers can follow the tests, live and in person. Once a test sequence is complete, a detailed report on the series of tests, including photos and videos, forms the basis for a joint final analysis.
In this state-of-the-art Test Center, Fill is offering its customers a novel opportunity to collaborate on implementing a reliable, stable, highly economical casting production process, made-to-order for the individual foundry’s requirements.