If you’re reading this, chances are, you have at some point experienced quality concerns with your castings.

In attempting to solve the mystery issues that were cause for your casting quality concerns, you and your team have “5-Y’d” the heck out of your entire manufacturing process. Hopefully, you were successful in identifying hiccups here and there…  This can be a painstaking process that doesn’t always end with the desired results.  Often, you are still left wondering at the end of the assessment.  Why isn’t production achieving higher yield of quality castings?

Foundry aggregate is a manufactured product.  From mining to time of delivery, the aggregate is exposed to innumerable variables that can negatively affect the quality and performance of the product.  Changes made in the mining process, cross-contamination from unclean transport containers, and general operator error are a few potential causes lending to quality loss.

Hypothetically, imagine your company uses resin in its molding process.  If the aggregate to be used in the said process was shipped in a container that previously transported salt, the aggregate may become cross-contaminated.  The introduction of salt to your resin coating process would affect your resin chemistry. Consequences of this happening would likely result in weak molds and deformed castings.  Implementing a raw aggregate quality assurance program would prevent the contaminated aggregate from ever entering your system. Ultimately saving your company from suffering unnecessary financial loss.

There’s an entire list of tests outlined in the AFS Mold & Core Handbook. The tests and methods are specifically designed to evaluate raw aggregate for quality assurance.  Consistent and correct implementation of the described test methods would help ensure your company is receiving the quality of product required to optimize your casting yield.

Quality Aggregate = Quality Molds = Quality Castings

Arguably, the most commonly overlooked contributor to casting quality is the thorough and consistent quality evaluation of raw aggregate.  Do you feel confident with the amount of attention given to the raw aggregate used in your molding process? Are your quality assurance and evaluation processes thoroughly checking your aggregate to ensure you are receiving the quality of product you expect from your sand supplier? Do you use accredited third party testing services to provide invaluable data representing your product quality?

Material Spec Laboratories has the industry experience and equipment resources necessary to assist your company in raw aggregate quality evaluation.  In addition we can help increase your profitability and production efficiency through optimization of casting quality via ISO 17025 accredited third party testing of your raw substrate.