Participation of IK4-Azterlan in the 73rd World Foundry Congress

This technical working frame, a worldwide reference for the foundry industry, will take place in Cracow (Poland) from the 24th to the 27th of September. International experts and organisations will share the latest innovations in the field of casting technologies.

IK4-AZTERLAN Metallurgy Research Centre will have an active participation within the official program of the Congress presenting 4 papers in the Technology, Materials and Sustainability & energy efficiency symposiums.

The developments to be presented by IK4-Azterlan Technology Centre will be framed within the Materials, Casting Technologies, Sustainability and Energy efficiency themes.

Regarding Casting Technologies, the researcher Pello Larrañaga will be presenting the new predictive system developed by IK4-AZTERLAN to control the graphite nodularity index of ductile iron castings on real production time. This system is based in the cooling curve of the metal and the real process parameters.

On the other hand, the symposium about Materials will host two papers presented by doctors Edurne Aguado and Ana Fernández, who will share innovations for grey iron and aluminium alloys. Firstly, Mrs. Aguado will share some interesting results in the replacement of silicon by aluminium in the chemical composition of grey iron, that improves the final mechanical properties of the metal. Mrs. Fernández will focus her presentation on the innovative methodology developed to predict the grain size in low pressure die casting (LPDC) technology with the support of the Thermolan®-Al software developed by IK4-AZTERLAN.

Finally, the Sustainability and energy efficiency symposium will host the presentation of the researcher Erika Garitaonaindia who will present the design and validation of an innovative mechanical system for the valorisation of spent foundry sand in new applications for the construction sector, thanks to the research work developed by the outstanding international team of the LIFE ECO-SANDFILL European project.

A strategic meeting point for casting technology experts

The World Foundry Congress is held every two years and it is a worldwide reference for the foundry industry. It is as well an important working-frame for IK4-Azterlan Metallurgy Research Centre, due to its high expertise and extended knowledge in the field of casting technologies (GDC, LPDC, VLPDC, HPDC).

The complete program of the event gathers as well other sector-related activities such as an International Foundry Exhibition, Industrial Visits to companies, universities and technology centres, along with the celebration of working meetings of the World Foundry Organization, among others.

IK4-Azterlan, along with the Tabira Foundry Institute and the World Foundry Organization, organized in 2014 the 71st World Foundry Congress in Bilbao, with the participation of 1100 technicians and experts from 45 countries.