We manufacture high-quality cast parts from a wide range of materials and support you from the design stage through to the ready-to-install component - efficiently, precisely and reliably.
In terms of tonnage produced, cast iron materials are by far the largest group of cast construction materials. Alloying technology and heat treatment can be used to produce a variety of grades that cover a wide range of properties.
The gray solidified grades with flake graphite and spheroidal graphite represent the largest share of production. These materials have very favorable casting properties. They also have a number of advantages from the point of view of the material user. They are very easy to machine and can be used over a wide temperature range. Forced vibrations are excellently damped due to the high graphite content, which leads to reduced noise development in many applications. The graphite also ensures good emergency running properties. With their high environmental compatibility, 100% recyclability and a favorable energy balance, these materials are also a good choice from an environmental point of view.
In view of the variety of cast iron materials, there is a “specialist” for many applications that comes particularly close to the desired requirement profile.
Cast iron materials with flake graphite (GJL) have excellent casting properties that enable components to be produced very economically. In addition, they are characterized by excellent damping properties compared to other materials and are therefore ideal materials for gearbox housings, cylinder blocks, machine beds and similar components. The materials can be machined very well.
In cast iron with lamellar graphite, graphite is present in the form of a three-dimensional structure similar to that of a lettuce leaf. In the metallographic section, the graphite appears as a lamella. As graphite can transmit compressive forces very well, but not tensile forces, the “lamellae” act as internal notches and limit the strength and ductility of these materials. The tensile strength of cast iron with flake graphite is therefore mainly determined by the size, shape and distribution of the graphite. It lies between 100 MPa and 350 MPa. Under compressive load, however, these materials can withstand considerably higher stresses than under tensile load.
Spheroidal graphite cast iron is a high-quality material that combines the advantages of cast steel and gray cast iron. It has a tensile strength and elongation at break similar to steel, but combines this with good damping properties and excellent machinability.
In ductile cast iron, the majority of the carbon is in the form of graphite spheres. The properties of low-alloy and unalloyed ductile cast iron are determined by the structure of the metallic matrix. The strengths are between 400 MPa and 800 MPa. The range of properties can be extended by subsequent heat treatment. Induction hardening of pearlitic grades is possible. The group of ADI materials (ausferritic cast iron) is also produced from cast iron with nodular graphite by means of a special heat treatment.
Austenitic cast iron grades are characterized by their stable austenitic microstructure at room temperature. Most grades are also referred to by the trade name “Ni-Resist” because the austenitic structure is primarily ensured by a nickel content of more than 20 %. Austenitic grades are characterized by a number of “exceptional” properties compared to low-alloy and unalloyed cast iron grades. These include:
• good scale resistance
• high heat resistance
• high elongation at break
• cold toughness
• special thermal expansion behaviour that can be adjusted within certain limits
• corrosion resistance to seawater and alkaline media
• erosion resistance
• no magnetizability
With this property profile, austenitic cast iron grades represent a competitive material to stainless, heat-resistant steels and possibly even to Ni-based alloys. Compared to these, they often offer economic advantages, which result primarily from simpler process control during production.
Wear-resistant cast irons are white carbide-solidified cast irons that contain a high proportion of iron or special carbides embedded in the microstructure as a hard material.
White cast iron materials are used primarily for massive abrasive wear caused by minerals, for example, due to their high wear resistance. The materials are used in grinding tools, in crushing, mixing and conveying systems and in pump construction.
ADI (Austempered Ductile Iron) refers to a group of cast iron materials in which a special microstructure is created through heat treatment. This structure of austenite and acicular ferrite is also referred to as “ausferrite”. The term “interstage quenched and tempered cast iron” is also commonly used. In older literature, this structure was also frequently referred to as “bainitic cast iron”.
With their property profile, the tough ADI grades are entering a field of application that was previously reserved for forged steels. Compared to steel, however, ADI has a density that is around 10 % lower due to its high graphite content, which also makes this material group attractive from a lightweight construction point of view. In addition, both the graphite and the ausferritic matrix ensure excellent material damping, which offers advantages for many applications such as gear construction.
The high-strength grades are primarily used where high wear resistance is required, for example in soil cultivation machines in agricultural machinery construction or in mining. Here they compete with hard manganese steels or high-alloy white cast iron. Compared to these materials, however, ADI is often the more economical solution.
The wear resistance can be further increased by introducing hard carbides. The group of so-called carbide ADI materials (CADI) is currently not standardized.
Heat-resistant ferritic cast iron was developed as a special material for use at high temperatures. In these so-called SiMo materials, the addition of silicon increases the resistance to scaling by forming a protective reaction layer on the surface and reduces the attack caused by internal oxidation. At the same time, the high silicon content creates a ferritic matrix. Molybdenum increases the high-temperature strength as an alloying element.
These materials are only significantly damaged if they are exposed to a temperature above the austenite transformation temperature for a longer period of time, as the protective layer then cracks due to the volume change during austenite transformation. SiMo materials are used up to temperatures between 750°C and 800°C. They are used, for example, in turbocharger housings or exhaust manifolds.
SiMo materials are standardized in the DIN EN 16124 standard.
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Topology optimization allows the laws of natural evolution to be used for component design. An optimal, load-appropriate material distribution is determined within a given installation space. The objectives of this optimization can be quite different. For example, optimizing stiffness can be just as much a goal as reducing weight or shifting the natural frequency. Areas of application for topology optimization include, for example, the conceptual determination of optimal component geometries, frame structures or rib arrangements.
Procast Guss uses the Hyperworks software. The use of topology optimization software in component development not only delivers optimized components, but also significantly accelerates the concept development phase, so that a considerable time advantage can be created for our customers. The prerequisite is, of course, that the installation space and the loads and bearings to be applied are known.
The casting manufacturing process is ideally suited to implementing the sometimes quite complex suggestions from topology optimization in a suitable form. However, topology optimization does not provide a finished component design, but merely a suggestion that must be implemented in a functional and production-compatible component. This is where the foundry's knowledge of the production process and the customer's knowledge of the function come into play.
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