Technology

Automatic Pouring Systems Boosts

Output at Mahindra Hinoday Ind
By: Sanjay Paranjape, Vice President - Operations, Mahindra Hinoday Industries Ltd.; and
P .D. Chaubal, Product Manager, Inductotherm India Pvt. Ltd

A decade ago, there were just
two or three automatic pouring
systems operating in India.
Even five years ago, you could count
these systems on one hand. But today
there are more than a dozen automatic
pouring systems in operation at Indian
foundries.
These automatic pouring systems are
found at the most innovative and
quality-oriented foundries in India.
And their success is leading the way
for a more widespread adoption of this
modern technology.
Automatic pouring allows foundries to
eliminate the armies of workers
needed for the dangerous work of
manual pouring. While this is a major
economic advantage where labor
costs are high, it is not the most
significant consideration in India.
Increased casting production, higher
casting quality and enhanced worker
safety made possible by automatic
pouring technology are the most
important advantages.
automotive electrical components and
industrial DC motors; and ferrite cores
for electronics, telecommunications
and special applications.
As early as 2003, Mahindra Hinoday
Industries began investigating the
advantages automatic pouring
technology might provide. The company
was particularly looking for a system to
pour ductile iron at the company's
automotive castings foundry. The
system would be used with an existing
+GF+ flask molding line.
The search for the best system to
meet Mahindra Hinoday Industries'
requirements included a visit to the
2003 GIFA foundry show in Germany
and to several automatic pouring
system manufacturers. Ultimately, the
company ordered an Inductotherm
automatic pouring tundish system with
Visipour® vision-based control
technology.
Commissioned in early 2004, the new
automatic pouring system featured a
well-insulated, unheated tundish with
a 2 ton capacity, an accurate stopper-
rod pouring mechanism and precise,
responsive vision-based controls.
Because it was to be used to pour
ductile iron, the automatic pouring
system also included in-stream
inoculation and Inductotherm's
automatic reaming system to reduce
slag buildup in the pouring nozzle.
Installed on the 96 mold per hour
+GF+ line, the automatic pouring
system poured molds as large as 120
kg for automotive castings including
turbine housings, engine brackets,
exhaust manifolds, power and
mechanical steering housings, crank
shafts, differential cases, carrier
housings, hubs and knuckles.

The Mahindra Hinoday

Industries Case History
Mahindra Hinoday Industries is a very
good example of an Indian foundry
benefiting from automatic pouring
technology.
With 40 plus years of manufacturing
experience, Mahindra Hinoday today
is a highly regarded name in ductile
iron castings and ferrites worldwide.
Staffed by more than 800 employees
and with US$55 million US dollars
invested in two manufacturing plants
This highly productive automatic pouring system at Mahindra Hinoday Industries’
at Pune, India, the company casts automotive castings foundry uses Inductotherm’s highly responsive stopper-rod
ductile iron parts for the automotive pouring mechanism and Visipour® vision-based control technology for precise pours,
industry, ceramic magnets for mold-after-mold, without operator intervention.

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June 2010

Production Increases Were
Immediate
Prior to installing its automatic
pouring system, Mahindra Hinoday
Industries managed an average daily
production of 100 tons per day,
running 24 hours, using manually
poured ladles to fill the molds. It also
experienced an average metal loss of
3 percent as a result of splashing and
over pours during manual pouring.
Overall, casting yield was about 61
percent.
A significant limitation that prevented
average daily production from
surpassing 100 tons was the frequent
need to stop the line waiting for iron.
Much of this delay occurred because
metal in the pouring ladles had
become too cold. But production time
was also lost in exchanging or refilling
pouring ladles, changing operators,
rest breaks for metal pourers, etc.
However, within just six months of
switching to automatic pouring,
Mahindra Hinoday Industries started
routinely achieving production levels
of 120 tons per day with an overall
increase in casting yield to 67 percent.
Mahindra Hinoday Industries
attributed this one-third increase in
production to a number of factors
directly related to its Inductotherm
automatic pouring system:
l More efficient management of the
transfer of molten metal for pouring -
As noted earlier, with manual pouring
it was difficult to keep the molten
metal in the many pouring ladles
within the proper pouring temperature
range. Often, the mold line would be
stopped to allow the cold metal in the
pouring ladles to be replenished with
metal at the proper temperature. This
does not happen with the automatic
pouring system.
Every 10 minutes the 1100 kg transfer
ladle brings hot liquid metal from the
foundry's two 6000 kg Inductotherm
induction furnaces to the tundish.
Furthermore, the well-insulated,
thermally efficient tundish limits the
Technology
metal temperature drop to between front of the mold. However, fully
2°C and 2.5°C per minute, assuring a computerized, vision-based pouring
proper pouring temperature between controls are able to automatically
refills. At Mahindra Hinoday adapt pouring to a variety of variables.
Industries, this also meant that it was These included the size, shape and
no longer necessary to superheat position of the sprue cup; the changing
metal in the furnace to offset the viscosity of the metal as the
losses incurred during metal transfer temperature varied; and changes in
using the manual ladles. the nozzle opening.
Typically with manual pouring, the This control adaptability allowed each
temperature drops about 70°C from mold's sprue and runner system to be
the transfer at the holding optimized. A smaller sprue cup and
furnace until the last good casting is more efficient runner system in the
poured. The larger, more thermally mold reduced metal use.
efficient transfer to and through the l Limited Fading – When working
automatic pouring tundish was with molten ductile iron, magnesium
calculated to suffer only half that loss, fade must be controlled in the
a drop of just 45°C. This resulted in a processes used. Automatic pouring
savings in furnace power costs. makes it simpler to limit magnesium
l Reduced metal loss - Metal fade due to the carefully controlled
splashing and over pours while filling timing of metal replenishment in the
the mold were greatly reduced tundish.
due to the precision of the pouring Automatic Pouring Improves
mechanism and vision-based Casting Quality
controls. This cut the metal loss from
The way a mold is poured has a
upwards of 3 percent to less than 1
significant impact on casting quality.
percent
With hand pouring, even the most
l Smaller sprue cup and optimized
skilled workers cannot fill every mold
runner system - Manual pouring
with an ideal pour. And anything less
necessitated a large, oblong sprue cup
than the ideal pour could produce a
and it had to be brought all the way to
casting that does not meet the quality
Perfectly filled molds move from the automatic pouring system along the now empty
manual pouring line. Overall production jumped from 100 tons per day to 120 tons per day
shortly after the automatic pouring system was commissioned. When more
melting/holding capacity was added to the melt shop, the automatic pouring system was
able to process 160 tons of production per day.
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June 2010
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standards for that product.
Casting defects can be caused by all of
the following problems directly
attributable to manual pouring:
l The pourer did not fill the mold with
enough molten metal, producing an
incomplete casting.
l The pourer interrupted the pouring
stream and allowed the sprue to empty
before continuing. This would cause
voids in the casting.
l The mold was poured too fast,
producing excessive turbulence in the
mold and interfering with metal flow.
This could cause inclusions in the
casting or misruns.
l The metal was allowed to become
too cold and did not flow properly in
the mold causing misruns, cold shunts
and round corners.
A high casting rejection rate caused
by any or all of the above manual
pouring difficulties is very costly for
foundries.
At Mahindra Hinoday Industries the
rejection rate due to pouring averaged
0.75 percent before automatic pouring
was installed.
However, Mahindra Hinoday
Industries' automatic pouring system
eliminated most of the casting defects
caused by problems inherent in
manual pouring. The system's vision-
based control technology prevented
both metal wasting over pours and
quality robbing under pours.
Moreover, it precisely maintained the
optimal pouring profile needed to
maintain the desired metal level in the
sprue cup throughout every pour.
Finally, simplified management of
pouring temperature eliminated a
common source of misruns, cold
shunts and rounded corners.
It is key to note that with automatic
pouring, all the molds in a particular
pattern are poured exactly alike,
providing a high level of consistent
quality in the foundry's casting output.
As a result, automatic pouring reduced
the casting rejection rate due to
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June 2010
pouring at the Mahindra Hinoday
Industries' automotive castings
foundry from 0.75 percent to 0.15
percent, a significant reduction and
important cost savings.
Enhanced Safety
The automatic pouring system at
Mahindra Hinoday Industries'
automotive foundry completely
eliminated the need to expose large
numbers of workers to the many
dangers associated with manual
pouring molds. These common
hazards included metal splash,
exposure to radiant heat, inhalation of
smoke and fumes, burns from contact
with hot surfaces, back injury, etc.
The reduction in tapping temperature
made possible by automatic pouring
also significantly increased the
operating safety margin for furnace
overheating errors. This, in turn,
resulted in longer refractory life and a
commensurate reduction in refractory
costs.
Reduced Labour Costs
While reducing labour costs is not the
most important reason for a foundry in
India to install automatic pouring, it is,
nevertheless, an important advantage.
While operating with manual pouring,
Mahindra Hinoday Industries'
automotive foundry required four
pourers on each shift.
Today, however, only a single
operator on each shift is responsible
for setting up and monitoring the
automatic pouring system. And since
the system, under computer control,
functions largely without operator
intervention, that single operator is
able to perform multiple other tasks.
Other Savings Generated By
Automatic Pouring
The fundamental operational changes
brought about by automatic pouring
produce savings and efficiencies in a
number of areas in the foundry. These
include:
l Reduced maintenance - While the
stopper rod and nozzle are changed as
required by the furnace operator and
the bottom pour tundish is relined
periodically, this represents minimal
work when compared to the job of
maintaining the large number of
manual-pouring ladles that were used
with manual pouring.
l Improved working environment -
With automatic pouring there are
fewer workers in close proximity to
the heat of molten metal and less
exposure to smoke and fumes.
l Commitment to quality and
productivity – The use of automatic
pouring technology demonstrates to
customers that Mahindra Hinoday
Industries is a modern, quality
conscious, production oriented
casting facility.
Increased Melting Capacity Increases
Automatic Pouring Production
When production at the Mahindra
Hinoday Industries' automotive
castings foundry grew from 100 tons
per day to 135 tons per day after
operation of the automatic system
began, the decision was made to add
more metal production capacity to the
foundry's melt shop.
It was clear that the automatic pouring
system could pour additional molds if
more liquid metal were available.
Therefore, a 2000 kg, 1000 kW induction
melting furnace was added to the two
6000 kg induction melting furnaces
sharing a 3500 kW power supply.
The operational efficiencies provided
by the additional holding furnace
enabled the number of 1100 kg ladles
supplied to the pouring tundish to be
increased from 5 per hour to 6 per
hour. This resulted in production
being increased from 120 tons per day
to 140 tons per day using the same
automatic pouring setup.
And when the 2000 kg, 1000 kW
melting furnace was later replaced with
a 3000 kg, 1500 kW melter, 7 ladles
were supplied to the tundish each hour
and overall production increased to 160
tons per day, again using the same
automatic pouring system. This high
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level of production, coupled with a
casting yield that had grown to 69
percent, has allowed Mahindra Hinoday
Industries' automotive castings foundry
to produce 2750 tons of casting each
month.
Rapid Payback of Capital
Expense
As a direct result of the financial
benefits accruing to Mahindra
Hinoday Industries from the increased
production, higher casting quality (and
reduced rejection rate), enhanced
safety and lower labour costs
resulting directly from the installation
and operation of its new automatic
pouring system, the payback period
for the system proved to be just over The Visipour® console in the control room (center) is linked to a video camera to monitor
six months. Few capital investments in each pour. The computer then adjusts the pour to adapt to current conditions, producing
the desired pouring profile even if there are changes in variables, such as the nozzle
the foundry industry would be able to opening or metal temperature. With Visipour®, little or no operator intervention is
match this payback record. required and the operator can attend to other duties during much of his shift.

Conclusion
While automatic pouring seemed to
get a slow start in the Indian foundry
industry, wider recognition of the
principal benefits of this technology,
including increased production, higher
casting quality, enhanced safety,
reduced labour costs and a quick
investment payback are now speeding
the adoption of these important
foundry production systems.

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June 2010