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Foundry Corporate News Topic Automation Topic Pouring, Gating, Feeding Topic Process Control Technology Topic Melting Shop Topic Testing, measuring & Quality Control

FASSMET TCAST - SOFTWARE FOR THERMAL ANALYSIS OF CAST IRON

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Each iron foundry distinguishes itself for its own casting production, using its own peculiar alloys' composition. Such alloys' composition can vary depending on the material and the specific requirements of the clientele. Moreover, depending on how the metal is treated, the same properties of the cast iron can vary significantly.

Given such particular needs, it becomes most of the times necessary to analyze the fundamental characteristics of the cast iron such as the macro and micro structure and the mechanical properties.

Such characteristics can be studied by determining the heat flow, the chemical composition, the microalloyed and the impurities, the metallurgical processes carried close to the furnace or directly in ladle and finally the inoculation methods currently in use in the foundry.

Taken into consideration such contingencies, Fassmet has developed TCAST, a dedicated software for thermal analysis of cast iron that allows to control the final quality of the cast.

The greatest advantages of TCAST for the foundry are:

  • Conduct real time multiple cast iron samples acquisitions at the same time; the foundry can set up one working station to work with multiple channels of acquisitions or any other number of working stations to work with much more channels. In such way, full track of the quality of the cast is made available real time from to the furnaces to the pouring lines for a specific cast iron production or for multiple cast iron productions;
  • Acquisitions through a simplified web interface; a dedicated acquisition window customized for the foundry operator to visualize only the main parameters and messages used as guidelines necessary for real time and on-site cast iron quality control. Such web interface can be furthermore customized by the quality control responsible depending on the type of cast iron produced;
  • Monitor and modify cast iron samples acquisitions from a main server or any other device such as pc, smartphone and tablet; the quality control responsible can control the samples acquisitions from anywhere inside the foundry and request in real time the needed modifications to the foundry operator acquiring the samples;
  • Analyze the data acquired having access to an unlimited samples’ database; the quality control responsible can analyze the samples acquired having access to advanced search functions, charts, as well as customized reports of each cast iron sample acquisition and weekly, monthly, yearly statistics. All such information are easily accessible and can be easily exported for necessary qualitative analysis;
  • Configure any number of alloys to be analyzed; such function allows to guarantee as much as possible an accurate control of the quality required by each client. The quality control responsible can be completely autonomous in configuring its thermal analysis software;
  • Run internal tests of previous acquisitions; previously stored samples can be easily modified to test different alloys compositions before the actual production. Such tool represents a great advantage in case of specific client’s requirements, frequent changes in the production or necessity of producing a completely new type of cast iron.

TCAST can be supplied in any language and can be installed to work with the most common operating systems.

In such way, Fassmet offers not only an easy to use instrument but also an extremely versatile and adaptive equipment necessary to keep track of a diverse production that might require to be adjusted rapidly and frequently.

Keeping track of a diverse production through the use of TCAST results in a greater control of the production process, in a saving of the materials used and in a reduction of the scraps produced.

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