For the 14th time, EUROGUSS, the largest trade fair of the international die casting industry, opens its doors in Nuremberg. From June 8 to 10, 2022, Föhl, specialist for zinc die casting, will present exciting solutions and inspirations around the processing of zinc in hall 7A / 7A-532. In addition to hybrid technology, which combines advantageous material properties from the substances zinc and plastic, the resource-saving hot runner process, with which not only without a gating system but also particularly filigree casting can be achieved, will be presented. But Föhl is not only focusing on zinc in the future: the Baden-Württemberg-based company is also planning to offer its Föhlan nanocoating, which is a green alternative to galvanic not only with ecological advantages but also with better corrosion resistance, for certain aluminum alloys.
Sustainability in casting
Föhl always keeps its responsibility to the environment in mind and continuously optimizes its efforts to protect it. For example, the company has already been operating on a CO2-neutral basis both in Germany and at its Chinese plant since 2020. For the step towards climate neutrality, the foundry has undertaken numerous environmentally friendly renovation measures and relies on renewable energies, intensive development work, newly planted forests and energy scouts. Environmental protection is considered an important innovation driver at Föhl, as processes developed in-house make their daily contribution to reducing resources.
Thus, the environmental aspect is always an elementary component in Föhl's own developments. With Föhlan, the thin-film passivation for zinc components, the foundry offers a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional galvanic, which is problematic in terms of wastewater. The high-tech process was developed in-house and not only offers economic advantages. The process is also worthwhile from an ecological point of view, because compared with conventional galvanic it saves up to 70 % energy and 90 % coating material. The chemical-physical process does not require any chemical burn during pretreatment, does not produce any wastewater and does not require a permit or any accident regulations. In addition, Föhlan scores with its high corrosion resistance and a very low coating thickness of around two micrometers. While nanocoating has already become established for zinc and is used for many components – among others by major German automotive manufacturers – it is currently also being tested for certain aluminum alloys in order to be able to offer a more ecological process with high abrasion resistance for this material as well in the future.
Another in-house development from Föhl is the hot runner process – also an example of how a large proportion of energy and material can be saved in casting with innovative solutions. The proportion of recycled material is reduced here by at least 50 %. At the same time casting without a gating system achieves better casting qualities – while doubling the number of cavities and keeping the machine size the same. Much more filigree molds with walls of only 0.3 mm can be cast, which would not be possible with conventional processes.
