Metal Casting
Emerging Technologies in Metal Casting

By vr foundries on 6-March-2018

Technology and the industrial landscape witness a super-fast transition resulting in the development of new products and the demand for the cast metal components soaring up. Now is the time for industries to anticipate and respond to the new trends of the emerging industry and consumer requirements to develop innovative products that are superior in quality and competitive in the price.

Today, product manufacturing is all about innovative product development, shorter design cycles, and high-performance products. Product design keeps changing to meet these evolving needs.

Some of the top trends in manufacturing are:

Light Weighting

Products design all together has obtained a revolutionary stride in two remarkable areas, first the aerospace industry and then the automotive industry.

Light-weighting has become a necessity in these two industries and the necessity for a simplified manufacturing process has a new dimension.

Alternative materials like aluminium magnesium

The applications of other materials like magnesium and aluminium along with the use of new manufacturing methods to 3D printing have given new opportunities for the metal casting industry.

This requires the manufacturers to improve their ability to use new technologies in metal casting to reap high profits in the upcoming years.

Declined usage of conventional low strength Steels

Advanced product development requires innovative designs and materials that suit these requirements in every way. This brings the need for high strength materials and this is why the total usage of conventional low strength steels has dropped down.

Trends such as these have restructured the whole product design cycle with new materials to meet today's challenges

The immediate need for today is industries that make innovative products, which can be designed quickly without long processing times, and are superior in performance and are easy to manufacture.

Contemporary and traditional casting

The best technologies are combined with topology optimisation for light and robust design, 3D technology for casting patterns and investment casting to make traditional metal casting.

This framework is easy and accurate and can help product design professionals to face today's challenges.

Manufacturing feasibility has to be a part of the design process in order to meet quality standards, eliminate casting defects, and improve productivity and durability of castings.

These needs have resulted in an increase in the number of 3D printing in product manufacturing industries that have traditional practices to make casting patterns.

Early design speculation

A simulation driven design approach enables engineers to explore different designs to see if each design supports the requirements. This process is enhanced by generating a new material layout within a package space using the loads as the input.

This method of topology optimization is a process in which the unwanted material is removed from the design space and retained where load paths are prevalent. These design concepts are structurally efficient when taking appropriate measures in manufacturing the products. This not only creates lightweight structures that meet specific performance requisites but also helps to identify defects in castings that can be detrimental.

With a clear understanding of the given requirements and the use of the appropriate technologies, manufacturing unique, high-quality products can be easily accomplished. On the other hand, product manufacturing engineers can think and act in a way that their approach benefits the local economies.