The Metallurgy Research Centre has participated in this outstanding international technical meeting with the presentation of three scientific works focused on the development of new digital materials for automotive sector, the manufacture of 5XXX and 6XXX series aluminum components by means of ablation technology and an advanced study on the nucleation of graphite in spheroidal iron foundries.
As a yearly must-attend technical meeting for the worldwide castings industry, the “MetalCasting Cogress” 2022, organized by the American Foundry Society, was held on April 23rd, 24th and 25th. Once again, AZTERLAN took part in the internationally recognized event with the presentation of some of its latest developments in the field of iron and aluminum casting technologies.
Iron casting: new materials with improved metallurgical properties and enhanced quality.
In the field of iron foundry, AZTERLAN has shared the results of two significant works. On the one hand, Dr. Ana I. Fernández, presented the paper “New ductile cast iron digital grade for automotive components”, developed within the framework of the DigiMAT European project. In her presentation, Dr. Fernández showed the audience how Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Control Models (developed ad-hoc to obtain materials with specific properties and implemented in the manufacturing process of the AAPICO Portugal foundry company) have made it possible to create new grades of cast iron with improved mechanical propperties, directly impacting on the lightening of the weight of car safety parts (watch DigiMAT video).
Dr. Ana I. Fernández during the presentation of the research work “New ductile cast iron digital grade for automotive components”
For his part, Ramón Suarez presented the work “Influence of the holding time in the heating/pouring units on the metallurgical quality of spheroidal graphite cast Iron”. Suarez shared with the audience the relationship between the time of permanence of the metal in liquid state in the casting units and the metallurgical quality of the castings in terms of number, size, distribution and degeneration of the graphite and its shape, as well as its influence on the nucleation of graphite nodules themselves, which confer specific properties to the material.
Ablation technology: optimization of the treatment of liquid aluminium to manufacture 5xxx and 6xxx series components using this innovative manufacturing process
In the field of aluminium casting, the work “Chemical composition and melt treatment optimization of 5XXX and 6XXX alloys for the ablation technology” was also shared by Dr. Ana I. Fernández. In her presentation, the AZTERLAN researcher shared the development of a chemical composition and a treatment for molten aluminum optimized to be able to manufacture components with 5154 and 6061 alloys by means of ablation (also hydrosolidification) technology. As explained by Dr. Fernández, a grain refining system is needed for that purpose, and thermal analysis, as an advanced control method, is a “very useful tool”. These developments have been carried out within the Imagine (Elkartek program of the Basque Government) and REVaMP (European Union, H2020, GA 869882) projects participated by the AZTERLAN Metallurgy Research Centre.
