Optimizing Aluminum Sand Casting Process with IoT: A Case Study on Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc.
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
- Sensors - Acoustic Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Marine & Shipping
- Metals
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Manufacturing Process Simulation
- Time Sensitive Networking
Services
- System Integration
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. is a comprehensive aluminum casting provider that services a wide range of industries, including aviation, electrical, industrial, marine, and defense. The company specializes in green sand molding, air set molding, and permanent mold, with the capabilities and expertise to meet its customers’ casting needs for parts weighing from a few ounces to 2000 lbs. Woodland/Alloy Casting prides itself on delivering quality aluminum castings 'on time, every time.' The company has the convenience of performing molding, core making, melting, heat treatment, cleaning, and surface preparation all under one roof, enabling it to continuously meet time and quality standards for its customers.
The Challenge
Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc., a full-service aluminum casting provider, faced a significant challenge in transitioning a marine exhaust housing part from a lost foam casting to a sand casting. The transition required an updated gating system to maintain the integrity of the part. The company aimed to produce a sound casting while keeping ingates and risers to a minimum, which would allow for a low yield and reduce the time needed to remove the rigging. The challenge was to design a new gating system that would feed the casting from the bottom flange and push the metal to the top of the casting. The traditional approach to testing the new gating system would have involved numerous costly and time-consuming tests, requiring a number of molds to determine the outcome of the new gating system.
The Solution
To overcome the challenge, Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. employed solidThinking Click2Cast to run a casting simulation on the newly designed gating system of the exhaust housing. Click2Cast is a casting simulation software that allows users to enhance and optimize their manufacturing process. Once the updated design was finalized, Woodland/Alloy Casting tested the new gating system by running a simulation in Click2Cast. The simulation confirmed that the new gating system would produce a casting with zero defects. This solution eliminated the need for creating new gating system samples and molds for testing, thus saving time and costs. The company has since employed Click2Cast on a number of casting projects and continues to explore all the features, settings, and tools that the software provides.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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