The power of green sand for producing aluminium castings

A green sand process can produce aluminium castings of varying sizes in low, medium or high volume to suit almost any foundry’s needs. Castings can be uncomplicated or complex, safety-critical components with low porosity and excellent physical properties.
In the right applications, the green-sand-based process offers lower costs than other methods. It’s ultra-flexible, with fast pattern changes that are perfect for short runs. Compared to die casting:

  • tooling costs are low
  • updating component designs is quick and easy
  • there’s no need for energy-hungry tooling temperature control

DISA and StrikoWestofen, both part of Norican Group, offer a joint solution for aluminium casting production. Whether you want 100 or fewer moulds per hour or maximum DISAMATIC speeds, we have the right equipment for your foundry.

 

The Complete Aluminium Green Sand Foundry

Green sand fits a wide range of aluminium applications

Depending on the part you are creating, you can combine the advantages of horizontal or vertical green sand moulding with different pouring methods.

  • Gravity pouring from the top of the mould can be the perfect solution for most aluminium components with less demanding mechanical properties. Pouring can be manual or automatic.
  • For the most mechanically demanding castings like safety-critical automotive parts, low-pressure, bottom-filling technology gives the best conditions to reach the highest mechanical properties.

Advantages of using green sand for aluminium castings

DISA Aluminium casting 2
  • Efficient, flexible solutions from well under 100 right up to 555 moulds per hour
  • Unbeatable mould quality
  • Fast, easy pattern changes takes less than two minutes, perfect for short runs
  • Constant sand/metal ratio due to flaskless moulding
  • Robust and simple equipment designs use the minimum of moving parts for less maintenance and unbeatable uptime
  • Simple and proven core setting gives efficient, low cost, short-run production of hollow parts
  • Extensive automation means only a very small workforce is needed
Aluminum casting
  • Low cost patterns, with many material options depending on application
  • Pattern lifetime can be very high. Steel patterns can produce hundreds of thousands of moulds
  • Normally only one set of pattern plates is needed, even for high production volumes
  • Long service life and single set of production patterns delivers low pattern maintenance
  • Short lead times from CAD file to the first prototype and to start of series production
  • Changes to runners and feeders are easy, fast and cheap to make

Many foundries would profit from switching their aluminium castings to a green sand process. Not all aluminium castings can be feasibly produced in green sand, but the advantages above mean that many already are.

"With the low pressure pouring process on the DISAMATIC line, we can produce aluminium parts with complex geometry and excellent mechanical properties. Low casting porosity means it is not necessary to waterproof most components. This process has allowed us optimise the geometry of some existing component designs, saving weight and further improving their mechanical characteristics"
,br> Emile Di Serio, President, St Jean Industries.

The DISA Application team engineers can support you at every stage of your aluminium project. They can help you decide whether your aluminium castings will suit the green sand process, select the right equipment, design runners and feeders, deliver onsite training, monitor running-in and lead any troubleshooting required.

Contact us today: