Centracast
Westside Engineering Limited
with about 700 sq. mtrs of
enclosed area is equipped with oil/gas fired furnaces
of 250kg and 50kg capacities, and pneumatically
operated gravity die spin casting machines. The
company has a capacity to produce over half a ton of
castings every day.
The
foundry is well equipped with good fettling machines
and has all personnel trained in production quality
procedures. The in-house quality built-in facilities
include vacuum gas analyser to control gas porosities
in castings, temperature controls and casting
parameter controls to maintain a consistent quality
product. The high magnification microscope in the
laboratory assists in fault finding mechanism
consistent with the company's philosophy of
maintaining high quality standards of their
components. The company has good networking facilities
for chemical and mechanical properties analysis with
TELARC approved quality centres.
The
tool room and engineering workshop is well equipped
with reliable machines and trained and experienced
engineers. The design of dies use the latest CAD
techniques to obtain correct tooling profiles, while
die manufacture use networking with spark erosion and
CNC profile cutting facilities. The in-house blasting
machine helps in die maintenance and providing
consistent product quality.
The
company maintains and documents quality management
systems for production. Each component manufactured in
the foundry is provided with a batching clock
establishing traceability. The company is presently
working towards achieving certification of the Q-Base
Code with TELARC New Zealand.
| Typical
Alloys used for Aluminium alloy castings:
BS 1490:1988 |
| Chemical
Composition (Mass %) |
LM4 |
LM6 |
LM25 |
| Silicon |
4.0
- 6.0 |
12.2
- 12.7 |
6.5
- 7.5 |
| Iron |
0.80
max |
0.60
max |
0.50
max |
| Copper |
2.0
- 4.0 |
0.10
max |
0.20
max |
| Maganese |
0.2
- 0.7 |
0.50
max |
0.30
max |
| Magnesium |
0.15
max |
0.10
max |
0.4
- 0.6 |
| Nickel |
0.30
max |
0.10
max |
0.10
max |
| Zinc |
0.50
max |
0.10
max |
0.10
max |
| Titanium |
0.20
max |
0.20
max |
0.20
max |
| Lead |
0.10
max |
0.10
max |
0.10
max |
| Tin |
0.10
max |
0.05
max |
0.05
max |
| Others |
0.15
max |
0.15
max |
0.15
max |
| Aluminlum |
Remainder |
Remainder |
Remainder |
| *Strontium
addition is done for modification |
| Mechanical
Properties (As Cast): |
| Tensile
Stress (N/mm˛) |
160
- 220 |
190
- 230 |
130
- 150 |
| Elongation
(%) |
2
- 4 |
7
- 15 |
2
- 3 |
| Heat
Treatable |
Yes |
|
Yes |
| Machinability |
Fairly
Good |
Difficult |
Fairly
Good |
| Corrosion
Resistance |
Poor |
Good |
Good |
The
above stated figures are typical and further
tightening of the specification can be maintained.
Other alloys of BS 1490 are also used. The company
also uses other standards like Australian standards to
suit the needs of our customer.
|
