Product category:
Casting and Forging Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Norse Precision Castings | Subject: Sand casting
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 October 2007
Sand casting for panel and enclosure
design
Norse Precision Castings offers panel and enclosure design using sand casting, utilising the characteristics of aluminium that allow complex three dimensional shapes.
Aluminium has good temperature stability and excellent fluidity characteristics at casting enabling the formation complex three dimensional shapes with tolerances of + 0.4mm and wall thickness down to 3mm for front and back panels or complete enclosures Such characteristics enable front panels of enclosures to be formed and contoured for control and instrumentation components without sacrificing style nor functionality
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 18 Sep 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Remember sand casting for one-offs
Aluminium casting techniques at Norse Precision Castings can achieve tolerances of 0.4mm and wall thickness of 3mm, and sizes approaching one metre cube
Metals techniques used for plastics and vice-versa
Similarities of manufacture in gravity sand casting and moulding rigid polyurethane, gives a foundry the versatility to work in plastics and metals.
Norse Precision Castings offer a solution to both panel and enclosure design and by sand casting.
The inherent fluidity of aluminium at casting offers total versatility of form and shape in components such as enclosures, cabinets or individual panels and can provide sufficient detail to enable shallow recesses, pads and stand-off posts to be included.
Casting techniques at Norse Precision Castings is sufficiently accurate to allow logos and part numbers to be cast thereby providing an indelible mark and the economy of not requiring further labelling.
Further reading
Sand casting provides economic design variants
Experience in mould design, particularly the feeders and the fluidity of aluminium, enables tolerances of +0.4mm and wall thickness of 3mm to be achieved in aluminium sand castings.
Aluminium foundry expands CNC machining capacity
Leading aluminium sand caster has recently invested in two CNC machining centres to augment an already comprehensive capacity of in-house equipment.
Economy of sand casting will achieve all this in small batches even one-offs.
Sand casting also offers low cost prototypes with the particular advantage in the early stages that design changes to prototypes are relatively easily accommodated hence reducing development costs.
Two other parameters of aluminium may be exploited in enclosure design.
The heat conductivity, ranking fourth after the more expensive metals gold, silver and copper, provides good heat dissipation where a heat sink is incorporated into the chassis and aluminium's mechanical strength gives substantial protection to inside components.
The versatility of sand casting affords the designer the luxury or putting metal only where it's needed hence providing a combination of thin walls and strengthening ribs for optimum weight to strength ratio .
Particularly on back panels, aluminium can add strength, dissipate heat, or both, without an excessive weight penalty and at the minimum extra overall costs of the additional material.
Mounting pads and contact pads to conduct heat away and ventilation ports can be cast in, whilst inserts such as threads can be set into the material without difficulty.
Specialising in such complex shapes, including thin wall casting, the key lies in the pattern making and the ability to produce near net shape, whilst post-cast machining can, if necessary finish to higher accuracies.
With control of all manufacturing processes on one site, Norse Precision Castings of Bedford, have an enviable reputation for very short lead times.
Quality control also benefits from having all post-casting manufacturing, including straightening, heat treating, CNC machining, finishing, and assembly, under the one roof.
• Norse Precision Castings: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
