Product category:
Diecasting machines and equipment
News Release from: Striko Westofen | Subject: Dosing furnace
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 July 2002
Dosing replacing ladle furnaces in
diecasting
Aluminium diecasters around the world are showing increasing confidence in the dosing furnace as a means of supplying liquid metal to their machines, according to a furnace supplier.
Aluminium diecasters around the world are showing increasing confidence in the dosing furnace as a means of supplying liquid metal to their machines, judging by information released by Striko-Westofen During 2001, the company consolidated its international leadership by delivering more than 180 Westomats - its best year ever, and a 15% increase on the previous 12 months
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 6 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Another dosing furnace for Metal Castings
The UK's largest manufacturer of aluminium high pressure diecastings took delivery of its twentieth Westomat dosing furnace this summer.
Furnace linings intact after 16 years' use
Three gas-fired bulk melters at a North Shields diecasting plant - installed between 1986 and 1997 - are all still running with the original linings, thanks to an efficient maintenance service.
Bulk melters have laser monitoring of charge
In today's global diecasting industry, where you produce your castings is becoming less and less important - but the way in which you melt your metal is more vital than ever.
According to John Paterson, sales manager of Striko UK, which represents Striko-Westofen in Great Britain and Ireland, the reasons are not hard to find.
"Everyone acknowledges that dosing is a highly efficient means of delivering a precise amount of clean metal at the correct temperature, but for many diecasters the cost of investing in the equipment has always been the sticking point," he says.
"Today, the cost of a dosing furnace is not significantly greater than buying a ladle-based system - so it's a very attractive option if you have a bulk melting facility and the volumes you require are appropriate." One Striko UK customer that needs no persuading is Metal Castings, which installed its seventeenth Westomat - a 230S - at the end of last year.
The furnace went to the company's Worcester foundry, which specialises in automotive components such as engine blocks, sumps and gearbox casings and is complemented by a second plant in Wolverhampton.
"As well as increasing our capacity in general, we needed the extra dosing to satisfy demand for a bearing ladder for BMW that we are producing on three machines working three full shifts," explained Worcester engineering manager Neil Callaghan.
Casting, machining and final assembly are all carried out on a cellular basis, and bulk melting is in the capable hands of a Striko 3000/6000 tilting reverbatory furnace.
One recent refinement is a filter vessel developed by Striko UK mounted on the front of the furnace's pouring envelope that uses a bonded-particle Metaullics filter plate instead of a conventional gauze to ensure clean metal.
BMW is just one of the automotive 'celebrities' in Metal Castings' order book, from badge names such as Land Rover, Jaguar, Nissan, Toyota and Ford, to assemblies and systems manufacturers Dana, Delphi and Visteon.
• Striko Westofen: 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
