Electro Magnetic, Low Pressure Molding

This process, which is proprietary to the Alcast Company aluminum foundry, removes much of the margin for error or variation in the aluminum casting process. Through our electric melting and casting process, oxides are filtered out and much of the turbulence common to traditional pouring in an aluminum foundry is eliminated. This produces a porosity free casting that's less likely to crack or warp. And because it's an automated and controlled process, we can ensure consistent results.

Characteristics of The Alcast Company Process

Detailed set-up and process specifications for each job

Electric melting

Argon metal cleaning and de-gassing

Double ceramic filtration to further remove oxides

Four temperature control zones between melter and the mold

Permanent and Semi Permanent Molds

Electro-magnetic, low turbulance, bottom fill pouring

Alcast Company foundry permanent mold aluminium casting press, industrial fan hub

Benefits of Alcast Company Process

Excellent Integrity

Complex geometry and shell coring

Excellent surface finish

Consistency

Moderate tooling costs

Suited for wide range of volumes

Low Scrap Rate, One Percent or Less on Raw Castings

Pressure Tightness

What is Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting?

In Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting a reusable metal mold is used in place of an expendable sand mold. The mold is coated with various refractory paints to protect the mold from the molten aluminum and also helps to control solidification . Using our proprietary molding machines the molds are held closed hydraulically with over 20,000lbs of force during the casting process. With the Alcast Company electro magnetic low pressure process, the mold is then filled from the bottom for a set amount of time, the casting is then allowed to solidify before being removed from the mold.
We use the process to produce fan blades, brake calipers, valve bodies, master cylinders and more.

Reusable steel cores can also be added to the permanent molding process to produce more complex parts. Alcast Company usually uses smaller pneumatic cylinders to insert these reusable cores before casting the part and also to remove them before removing the aluminum casting from the mold.
Using these reusable steel cores allows us to produce more complex: brake calipers, master cylinders, and more.

Using this Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting process we are able to produce aluminum castings with: high quality, high precision, no porosity, and smooth surface finishes. Due to the smooth surface finish, our castings can be ideal for chrome plating, painting, or shot blasting for a attractive natural matte finish.

With smaller parts, multiple pieces can be cast in one shot and later cut away from a common gate.

What is Semi Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting?

Semi Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting is very similar to the above process, with just one exception. Our expendable shell sand cores are used in conjunction with the permanent mold. One of our shell cores, multiple shell cores, or an assembly of shell cores are inserted into the mold before casting the part or parts. The sand core will later be sand blasted out or baked out before or during the heat treating process.

The Semi Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting process allows for much more complex castings to be produced, such as: torque converters, internal passages in valve bodies, blowers, and more. We are also still able to provide exceptionally smooth surface finishes using this process because of the shell core process we use.

Shell Core Making

One reason Alcast Company is able to routinely produce complex aluminum castings in our aluminum foundry that other foundries find difficult is our willingness to take the extra steps needed to ensure quality. An example is our use of very fine shell core sand in our shell cores, which results in a completed casting that exceeds surface specifications and requires less post finishing.