Production of iron castings weighing up to 50 tons

RAFAMET Foundry is a producer of iron castings weighing up to 50 tons and dimensions up to several meters, intended mainly for the machinery sector. It specializes mainly in gray and ductile iron castings as well as special-purpose alloy cast irons.

A large part of the production is carried out in molding pits, the dimensions of which reach 20 m. The company also offers a wide range of services related to the main activity: construction of foundry modeling, consultations and advice in the field of foundry technology, machining of castings, laboratory work and repair of castings using the Metalock method.

Over 70% of products and services go to foreign markets

The foundry in Racibórz is a European-recognized producer of mounting and marking plates, as well as special-purpose plates, e.g. for dyno, measuring or test stands. The recipients of the plates are the largest manufacturers of machine tools, including from Germany, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. The plates are also sent to the research and development laboratories of the automotive sector as elements on which test and measuring stands are prepared.

The production of mounting plates is based on a carefully developed technological process, supported by a series of strength calculations and analyzes prepared with the use of the latest engineering solutions. The result of these activities is a high-quality product characterized by high strength and stiffness. The panels delivered to the customer are machined, prepared, have a high tolerance class and are equipped with a set of elements necessary for assembly.

The mounting plates are made in sizes up to 9000 × 3000 mm, with a load capacity of up to 35 t / m2. The foundry produces sets of plates connected in fields, according to individual customer requirements. The largest field made so far was 16 × 14 m

RAFAMET Foundry makes lost foam castings. It is an alternative to the traditional casting process. In the lost foam technology, also known as full mold, polystyrene (EPS) models are used, which are completely backfilled in a casting mold.

Liquid metal introduced into the mold fills its cavity, while firing the model. The lost-pattern process is economical for complex castings because the polystyrene pattern can reproduce undercuts, angular dimples, and optimized contours. In many cases, this method is much cheaper than the traditional one, using wooden model assemblies due to the lower production costs of the model.

The benefits of using the lost foam technology are greater flexibility of construction than for wooden models, the ability to produce complex castings for all types of cast iron, lower costs for unit and prototype production (the cost of the EPS model is about 20% of the cost of a typical wooden model), shorter delivery time (model production EPS lasts 1 to 3 weeks), an additional option to reduce the weight of the casting.

The scope of services offered by the RAFAMET Foundry includes, among others: development of a prototype and EPS model design, technological support in the casting design process, as well as economic selection of appropriate castings for the lost model method compared to conventional casting methods.

The main recipients of castings made with the lost foam technology are companies from the automotive sector, producing car body parts pressed from sheet metal – castings are used to make dies and stamping dies. This technology is also used in unit and prototype production, where there is no justification for investing in an expensive set of wooden models.

The largest fired EPS casting produced by the RAFAMET Foundry had dimensions of 8,000 × 2,500 × 900 mm and weighed over 20 tons.

Fot. Odlewnia Rafamet