Altair Case Studies Optimizing Aluminum Sand Casting Process with IoT: A Case Study on Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc.

	Optimizing Aluminum Sand Casting Process with IoT: A Case Study on Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. Altair

Optimizing Aluminum Sand Casting Process with IoT: A Case Study on Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc.

Altair

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation Sensors - Acoustic Sensors
Applicable Industries	Marine & Shipping Metals
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Manufacturing Process Simulation Time Sensitive Networking
Services	System Integration Testing & Certification
Challenge	Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc., a full-service aluminum casting provider, faced a significant challenge in transitioning a marine exhaust housing part from a lost foam casting to a sand casting. The transition required an updated gating system to maintain the integrity of the part. The company aimed to produce a sound casting while keeping ingates and risers to a minimum, which would allow for a low yield and reduce the time needed to remove the rigging. The challenge was to design a new gating system that would feed the casting from the bottom flange and push the metal to the top of the casting. The traditional approach to testing the new gating system would have involved numerous costly and time-consuming tests, requiring a number of molds to determine the outcome of the new gating system. Read More
About Customer	Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. is a comprehensive aluminum casting provider that services a wide range of industries, including aviation, electrical, industrial, marine, and defense. The company specializes in green sand molding, air set molding, and permanent mold, with the capabilities and expertise to meet its customers’ casting needs for parts weighing from a few ounces to 2000 lbs. Woodland/Alloy Casting prides itself on delivering quality aluminum castings 'on time, every time.' The company has the convenience of performing molding, core making, melting, heat treatment, cleaning, and surface preparation all under one roof, enabling it to continuously meet time and quality standards for its customers. Read More
Solution	To overcome the challenge, Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. employed solidThinking Click2Cast to run a casting simulation on the newly designed gating system of the exhaust housing. Click2Cast is a casting simulation software that allows users to enhance and optimize their manufacturing process. Once the updated design was finalized, Woodland/Alloy Casting tested the new gating system by running a simulation in Click2Cast. The simulation confirmed that the new gating system would produce a casting with zero defects. This solution eliminated the need for creating new gating system samples and molds for testing, thus saving time and costs. The company has since employed Click2Cast on a number of casting projects and continues to explore all the features, settings, and tools that the software provides. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation

Sensors - Acoustic Sensors

Applicable Industries

Marine & Shipping

Metals

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Manufacturing Process Simulation

Time Sensitive Networking

Services

System Integration

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc., a full-service aluminum casting provider, faced a significant challenge in transitioning a marine exhaust housing part from a lost foam casting to a sand casting. The transition required an updated gating system to maintain the integrity of the part. The company aimed to produce a sound casting while keeping ingates and risers to a minimum, which would allow for a low yield and reduce the time needed to remove the rigging. The challenge was to design a new gating system that would feed the casting from the bottom flange and push the metal to the top of the casting. The traditional approach to testing the new gating system would have involved numerous costly and time-consuming tests, requiring a number of molds to determine the outcome of the new gating system.

About Customer

Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. is a comprehensive aluminum casting provider that services a wide range of industries, including aviation, electrical, industrial, marine, and defense. The company specializes in green sand molding, air set molding, and permanent mold, with the capabilities and expertise to meet its customers’ casting needs for parts weighing from a few ounces to 2000 lbs. Woodland/Alloy Casting prides itself on delivering quality aluminum castings 'on time, every time.' The company has the convenience of performing molding, core making, melting, heat treatment, cleaning, and surface preparation all under one roof, enabling it to continuously meet time and quality standards for its customers.

Solution

To overcome the challenge, Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. employed solidThinking Click2Cast to run a casting simulation on the newly designed gating system of the exhaust housing. Click2Cast is a casting simulation software that allows users to enhance and optimize their manufacturing process. Once the updated design was finalized, Woodland/Alloy Casting tested the new gating system by running a simulation in Click2Cast. The simulation confirmed that the new gating system would produce a casting with zero defects. This solution eliminated the need for creating new gating system samples and molds for testing, thus saving time and costs. The company has since employed Click2Cast on a number of casting projects and continues to explore all the features, settings, and tools that the software provides.

Impact #1	The use of solidThinking Click2Cast in the casting simulation process has significantly improved the operational efficiency of Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. The software has enabled the company to optimize and improve their casting process while maintaining their commitment to delivering quality castings on time. The simulation capabilities offered by Click2Cast have resulted in both cost and time savings for the company. The company has been able to apply the software to a number of casting projects since its initial discovery, and continues to explore all the features, settings, and tools that the software provides. This has not only enhanced their casting process but also opened up new possibilities for further optimization and improvement.

Impact #1

The use of solidThinking Click2Cast in the casting simulation process has significantly improved the operational efficiency of Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc. The software has enabled the company to optimize and improve their casting process while maintaining their commitment to delivering quality castings on time. The simulation capabilities offered by Click2Cast have resulted in both cost and time savings for the company. The company has been able to apply the software to a number of casting projects since its initial discovery, and continues to explore all the features, settings, and tools that the software provides. This has not only enhanced their casting process but also opened up new possibilities for further optimization and improvement.

Benefit #1	Confirmed the new gating design would produce a casting free of defects through simulation, eliminating the need for physical testing.
Benefit #2	Reduced time in trial and error in creating numerous gating systems for numerous tests.
Benefit #3	Cost savings in eliminating the process of having to create new gating system samples and molds to test.

Benefit #1

Confirmed the new gating design would produce a casting free of defects through simulation, eliminating the need for physical testing.

Benefit #2

Reduced time in trial and error in creating numerous gating systems for numerous tests.

Benefit #3

Cost savings in eliminating the process of having to create new gating system samples and molds to test.

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Overview

Optimizing Aluminum Sand Casting Process with IoT: A Case Study on Woodland/Alloy Casting, Inc.

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit