IMPROVED WEAR ON FEED CHANNEL OF GRAVITY CASTING MOLDS

Abstract

In order to reduce wear and costs with replacement parts of the mold, analyzes were carried out in the casting process of the wheel, and through the Quality Tools it was observed that the feed channel (pouring cup) of the mold was more frequent than other parts. To assess the cause of wear, the Cause and Effect (4m's) diagram was used and it was found that steel in which the mold was manufactured did not have sufficient properties to withstand the temperature that aluminum was deposited in the mold, causing thermal cracking and premature wear of the part (pouring cup), needing to be manufactured with more resistant material that is the cast iron, raising its performance. With the implementation of the project, several positive results were obtained: 88% decrease in the annual cost of spare parts; reduction of 90% waste of raw material; decrease in waste generation and a 500% increase in leak-cup resistance.