How the metal industries can play their part in a sustainable future
It has always been widely understood that scrap metal has economic value. With ever greater focus on recycling and reducing the strain we put on our natural resources, there is also a growing appreciation of the environmental benefits metal recycling can deliver. Metals have been worked for jewellery and tools since pre-historic times and over...
Rapid Prototyping: How 3D Printing is making its presence felt in the foundry
As a long-established foundry with its roots in sand and gravity die casting, NovaCast has grown and evolved over the years to become a modern, diverse and international foundry, with customers and production partners around the world. As the business has developed, it has embraced new casting processes, such as investment casting, lost foam casting,...
Analysis and Testing of Metals: The use of Spectrometers in foundries
Over the years, technology has played an increasingly important role in metal casting foundries. NovaCast, for example, uses the latest Casting Simulation Software, 3D Modelling and 3D printing to streamline processes, raise productivity and improve quality. One such area where technology is used to great effect in foundries is the use of Spectrochemical analysis for...
The Main Alloying Elements used in Cast Stainless Steels
When considering the alloy specification for a cast Stainless Steel component, it is critical that the service environment in which the cast component will be deployed is taken into account. The chemical composition of the Stainless Steel alloy will determine its performance characteristics and suitability for each application. At NovaCast, we supply a wide variety...
NovaCast shows the way to a greener, more sustainable industry
Over the years the metal casting industry has acquired a reputation as one of the worst in terms of environmental impact, largely due to traditional production practices with high energy usage going in and highly toxic emissions coming out. Add to this the massive energy demands for the extraction and production of raw metals, such...
The Use of Fluxes in Aluminium Casting
At NovaCast, a large proportion of our castings are produced using Aluminium alloy. The formation of Aluminium Oxide and the presence of non-metallic inclusions, collectively known as dross, is an inherent part of the casting process and one that must be managed to achieve the highest quality castings. For many years, part of the foundryman’s...
Impeller Casting Specialists
The accurate casting and balancing of impellers requires a specialist set of skills as well as a commitment to outstanding consistency and quality. For many years, NovaCast has cast and machined impellers and pump components for a wide variety of industries and applications ranging from centrifugal pumps used in the Oil & Gas, Chemical, Water...
The differences between Lost Foam Casting and Lost Wax Casting
In many respects, the process involved in these two investment casting methods is similar. In both cases, a sacrificial pattern is made. In lost wax casting, this is made from a tooled mould and in lost foam casting, it may be made from a mould or carved from a solid block of foam material. A...
The Difference Between Gravity and Pressure Die Casting
Die casting is one of the most widely used casting processes but what is the difference between Gravity Die Casting and Pressure Die Casting? Both are casting processes used by NovaCast, so we are well placed to explain the differences and discuss the selection criteria. Both forms of Die Casting employ a metal mould into...
Heat Treatment of Castings
Heat treatment of castings is primarily used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of the cast alloy. Many of the mechanical properties of both ferrous and non-ferrous alloys are determined by their microstructure. Heat treatment Is an efficient way of manipulating the crystalline structure of the alloy to modify its mechanical behaviour in...
Elements of a Sand Casting Running System
The gating system includes all those elements which connect the pouring ladle to the mould. The various elements include: Pouring Basin or cup, Sprue, Sprue Base Well, Runner, Runner Extension, In-gate and Riser. An effective gating system should: Fill the mould cavity completely before the metal starts to solidify Control the speed that metal enters...
Focus on Metal Surface Treatments
NovaCast routinely uses a wide range of metal surface treatments on its cast products to enhance their mechanical, electrical or aesthetic properties. Surface treatments and finishes are often applied following surface preparation, usually in the form of fettling, linishing or shot blasting, and any final machining. Here, we focus on the surface treatments most commonly...
Aluminium Bronze in Metal Casting
The use of Aluminium Bronze in Metal Casting is widespread as it is a remarkably versatile alloy, conforming to the requirements of BS1400, and created when Aluminium is added to Copper as the primary alloying element with smaller amounts of Nickel and Iron to boost corrosion-resistance. Various grades of Aluminium Bronze are available with the...
What is Shell Mould Casting?
At NovaCast, we offer a wide range of casting process options as each have strengths and weaknesses that make them suited to certain applications and alloy choices. Shell Mould Casting is a metal casting process similar to sand casting, in that molten metal is poured into an expendable sand-based mould. However, in Shell Mould Casting,...
Types of shrinkage inherent in the casting process
We often say that casting molten metal is like handling a living thing. Understanding how different alloys will react to different casting processes, component geometry, running systems, temperatures, etc. is part of the art of the foundry engineer. In recent years, the wealth of experience built up at the NovaCast Foundry has been enhanced by...
Non-Destructive Testing of Cast Components
The production of high-quality castings has always been a mix of sound design, technical knowledge and the foundryman’s experience in handling and managing each stage in the casting process. More recent innovations, such as casting simulation software and 3D modelling, have helped to reduce casting defects by improving both product and gating system design. Dealing...
Casting Process Simulation Complements Traditional Foundry Expertise
Casting Process Simulation is used by NovaCast to develop comprehensive modelling of the intended production process to determine the size and shape of sprues, runners, gates, and risers. One of the main benefits of these systems is that they make it possible for us to quickly identify areas within the casting geometry that could give...
The Importance of Parting Line Design in Gravity Die Cast Components
As part of our series of articles discussing various aspects of Gravity Die Casting, we are taking a look at the importance of parting line design. The parting line is where two or more sections of the Die split to release the casting. When deciding where to place the parting line, designers will need to...
The case for Sand Casting
The Sand Casting process has been a key element in manufacturing for thousands of years and still accounts for approximately 70% of all castings. Whether Sand Casting is the best option for the production of a particular component will be dictated by considerations such as the required geometry, performance, alloy choice, production run, tolerance within...
The case for Gravity Die Casting
There are many different casting processes and each has its place. The inherent characteristics of each make them ideal for a particular component geometry, performance requirement, alloy choice, production run or tolerance within specification. Gravity die or permanent mould castings use a Cast Iron or Steel mould consisting of at least two parts. The most...
Fabrication to Casting: Steam Trap re-design creates market leading solution
As specialists in the conversion of fabrications and assemblies to single cast components, NovaCast is cutting costs and improving efficiency for its customers. One such customer is EBE Engineering; manufacturers of an innovative Venturi Orifice Steam Trap. Originally a fabrication comprising a cast stainless steel body with two welded flanges; the steam trap was slow...
Specifying the right cast Steel alloy
Cast Steel has become an increasingly important part of NovaCast’s business over recent years. The combination of excellent design, project management and quality assurance skills at our UK foundry with the low-cost, high-quality, high-capacity capabilities of our Far Eastern partners has allowed us to compete for and win many prestigious cast Steel projects. Although we...
Casting Design Considerations for Design Engineers
The design and manufacture of a metal component involves a multitude of decision points and will be influenced by considerations such as structural performance, weight, lead time, cost and aesthetics. It is understandable, therefore, that thoughts about how precisely that component is going to be manufactured are often left until the design is at a fairly...
Top 10 Design Tips for Problem Free Gravity Die Casting
Gravity Die Casting (also known as Permanent Mould Casting) is a repeatable process primarily used to produce medium-run, dimensionally accurate, non-ferrous castings, most often in alloys of Aluminium, Zinc and Bronze. Here are the Top 10 Tips for designing problem-free casting geometry…