Investment in new equipment, technological advances and expertise resulted in Harrison Castings Ltd, a foundry in the UK, producing a sump casting that will double a diesel engine’s oil capacity.
Component
- Sump casting, 2.4m in length and almost one metre square, net weight 450kg
Alloy
- Aluminium
Customer Requirements
- Specific mechanical properties.
- New design of a cast sump that would:
- double the engine’s oil capacity
- increase the working time of the engine
- still fit into the existing engine compartment
Outcome
Over 70 of the castings have been produced, with zero failure rate, for one of the world’s largest diesel engine manufacturers. The new concept castings have enabled the customer to double the working time of their engines, reduce the frequency of planned preventative maintenance and reduce downtime, leading to significant cost savings.
Challenges
The size and weight of the casting – two metres in length and almost a metre square, with a casting weight of over half a tonne – was double the size of the foundry’s previous largest casting, so broke new ground for the company.
Method
- Close collaboration with customer design team and foundry technical team.
- The sand casting process was used.
- Pattern equipment was made from customer’s 3D CAD models
- Investment in an electric holding ladle was made to, satsify the requirement of over 500kg of molten aluminium in a single cast.
- A three-part running system was adopted, using 30 separate in-gates and 14 cores together with chills and 70 insulated sleeves.
- The closed mould weighed six tonnes, the maximum weight for the foundry’s crane
- Close control of the metallurgy was required to achieve the desired mechanical properties, followed by final inspection and heat treatment.
